soler public opinion on youth, crime, and race a guide for advocates

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PUBLIC OPINION ON YOUTH,

CRIME AND RACE: A Guide for Advocates

For a fair and effective

youth justice system

October 2001

By Mark Soler

President, Youth Law Center



PUBLIC OPINION ON YOUTH, CRIME, AND RACE:

A GUIDE FOR ADVOCATES

www.buildingblocksforyouth.org

Th e Bui lding Blocks for Yout h ini t iat ive has f ive major components:

• Resea rch on the d ispa ra te impa c t of the ju s t ice sys t em on youth o f color, on th e

effects of ad u lt-cour t tran sfer legislat ion in th e states , and on th e privatization of

juven ile jus tice facilities b y for -pr ofit corpora tions ;

• Ana lyses o f dec is ionma king a t c r it ica l po in t s in the jus t ice sys t em, inc lu d ing

arres t , de tent ion, a djudicat ion, an d d isposi t ion;

• Direct advocacy on beha l f o f you th in th e jus t ice sys t em, pa r t icu la r ly on issu esth at d isproportiona tely affect you th of color su ch a s con dit ions of confin emen t in

jails, pr isons , an d juvenile facili t ies; access to coun sel an d ad equ acy of

repr esen tation in juvenile cou rt; an d “zero toleran ce” an d oth er iss u es relat ing to

school su spens ions an d expul s ions ;

• Const i tuen cy-bu ilding am ong Afr ican -American, Lat ino, an d Nat ive-American and

other minority organizations, as well as organizations in the medical , mental

h ealth, legal, law enforcem ent, child welfar e, civil r ights , h u m an right s, r eligiou s,

vict im’s r igh ts, a n d d omes tic violence a reas , at th e na tion al , stat e, an d local levels;

• Deve lopment o f comm un ica t ions s t ra t eg ies to p rovide t ime ly, accu ra te , andrelevan t inform ation to th ese cons ti tuen cies, pu blic officials, policymak ers, th e

media , and th e pub lic .

The p ar tn ers in t h e in it iat ive are th e You th Law Cen ter, Am erican Bar Association

J u ven ile J u stice Center, J u stice Policy In sti tu te, J u ven ile Law Cen ter, Minorit ies in

Law En forcemen t, Nationa l Coun cil on Crime a n d Delin qu ency an d Pretrial Services

Resource Center.

The in it iat ive is s u pport ed b y th e An n ie E. Cas ey, Ford, Mott , MacArth u r, Rockefeller

an d William T. Gran t foun dat ions, th e Center on Crime, Comm u ni t ies & Cul ture of

the Open Socie ty Ins t itu te , an d th e Office of J u veni le J u st ice an d Del inqu ency

Prevent ion an d Bu reau of J u st ice Ass istan ce of the U.S . Depar tm ent of J u st ice.

Points of view or opinions in this docu men t are th ose of the a u thor a nd do not

n ecessa ri ly represen t th e official posit ion or p olicies of th e U.S. Depa rtm ent of J u stice

or the sup port ing foun dat ions.

The author would l ike to gratefully acknowledge John Russonello and Kate Steward of

Belden, Ru ss onello an d Stewart for th e ir pa t ience an d th oughtfulness, a nd Liz Ryan

an d Lau ra J ones for th e ir work on the Close Chel tenh am an d Close Tal lu lah sect ions

of th e report .



TABLE OF CONTENTS

In trod u ction ... . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 4

Execu tive Su m m ar y ... . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . 7

Pu blic Op inion Resea rch Find in gs ... . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 12

You th a n d J u venile Cr ime .... . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. 1 2

You th a n d th e J u st ice System ..... . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . 13

Race a n d Fa irn ess ... . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . 1 5

Messa ges a n d Messen gers ... . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 16

Conclu sions .... . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 18

Recomm en da tion s ... . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . 19

Key Messages ................................................................................................ 19

Key Messengers ............................................................................................ 24

Messaging..................................................................................................... 26

Cas e Exa m ples ... . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 27

The Maryland Campaign to Close Cheltenham .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Th e Lou isia n a Cam pa ign t o Close Tallu la h .... . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 31

Sa m ple Materials .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . 34

Press Sta tem ent s, opin ion-editorials , a n d n ews a rt icles . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 34

Key Dates in J u venile J u stice ... . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 42



Publ i c Opinion on Youth , Cr ime a nd Race : A Guid e for Ad vocat es 4

INTRODUCTION

In recent years , a h ost of ju ven ile ju st ice

iss u es h ave been in t h e forefron t of pu blic

debate and policy discussion: racialdispa ri t ies in th e ju st ice system ,

prosecut ion of you th in adu lt cr imina l

court , in car cerat ion of you n g people in

jai ls a n d p risons, a n d effectivenes s of

prevent ion a n d t reatm ent programs . From

1992 to 1997, 47 s ta tes an d th e Dis t r ict of

Colu m bia m ad e th eir ju ven ile ju st ice

system s m ore pu n it ive, eith er by ma king it

eas ier to prosecu te ju veni les a s a du lts , by

expan din g sentencing au thor ity, or by

rem oving confiden tiality protections of

ju ven ile cou rt record s or pr oceedin gs. 1 Yet

research h as demons t ra ted tha t you th

prosecuted in ad u lt cou r t actu al ly have

higher recidivism rates and commit more

ser ious cr imes later th an youth in ju veni le

cour t .2 A report b y the Su rgeon Genera l in

J an u ary , 2001 d ispelled a n u mber of

“m yths ” ab out you th an d violen ce,

in clu ding the m yths th at minor ity youth

ar e m ore likely to becom e involved inviolen ce tha n other ra cial or eth n ic grou ps

an d th at “gett in g tou gh” with you n g

offenders by prosecut in g them a s a du lts

will lead to less crim e. Th e rep ort a lso

confirmed earl ier research on the

effectivene ss of a var iety of violence

prevent ion program s. 3

Build ing Block s for Youth , a na t ional

initiative for a fair and effective youth

ju st ice system, issu ed s everal reportsdu r ing 2000 an d 2001 on these is su es .

The Color of J us tice , by th e J u st ice Policy

In sti tu te, foun d th at in Ca liforn ia m in ority

you th p rosecuted in a du lt cou r t were

mu ch more l ikely to be senten ced to

imp r isonm ent th an white youth , even

when arr ested for s imilar offens es. 4 And

Ju s tice for Som e , a compr ehen sive

n ationa l report by th e Nationa l Coun cil on

Crime a nd Delinqu ency, foun d th at youth

of color ar e trea ted m ore severely tha n

white yout h at every stage of th e ju st icesystem – from a rrest to in carcera t ion —

even when cha rged with th e sam e

offenses.5 Youth Crim e/ Adu lt Tim e , an in-

depth stu dy by Pretr ial Services Resour ce

Center of you th prosecuted a s ad u lts in 18

of th e largest ju risd ict ions in th e coun try,

fou n d racial disp ari t ies s im ilar to th ose in

earl ier reports , and raised serious

ques t ions a bout th e fa irn ess an d

appropriateness of the process. I t found

tha t most determinat ions to prosecu te

you th in a du lt court (85%) were m ad e by

prosecu tors or legislatu res, n ot by ju dges;

a s ignifican t n u m ber of you th were

charged with non-violent offenses; a

m ajority of you th in th e stu dy were

releas ed before tr ial , most with in 2 4 h ou rs

of h avin g cha rges filed, a n d m an y were

releas ed with ou t ba il, al l in dicatin g tha t

th e cha rges were not esp ecial ly seriou s. 6

In Drugs an d Dis pa rity : The R acial Im pact of Illinois’ Practice of Transferring Young

Drug Offenders to Adult Court, t he s t udy

an alyzed data from s tat e cr im in al ju st ice

agen cies in I llin ois a n d n ationa l

correct ions data bas es . It repor ted tha t

Illinois’ pr act ice of a u tom at ica lly sen din g

15 a n d a 1 6- year -old you th ch arged with

dru g crim es with in 1,00 0 feet of a s ch ool

or pu blic hou sing project to ad u lt court

h as produ ced one of the most ra cial ly

disparate ou tcom es in the n at ion. Of the259 you th au tomat ically t rans fer red to

ad u lt court from Cook Cou n ty over a year

period, only one w as White. Over 99% of

the Cook Cou nty you th au tomat ically

t ran sfer red to the adu lt cour t for dru g

crim es were minori ty you th .




J u venile ju st ice batt les are increas in gly

fou ght in t h e cour t of pu blic opin ion. The

myth th at a n ew breed of you ng an d

violent “su per -predators” thr eatens the

na t ion (also debun ked by th e Su rgeonGenera l’s r eport) m ay be th e m ost obviou s

exam ple of a s ou n d bite drivin g nat iona l

policy, bu t i t is h ard ly the only on e. Th e

pen cha n t of television n ews for report ing

violen t cr im e p rom in en tly an d often (“If it

bleeds, it leads.”), despite seven straight

years of decreas es in crime in a ll

categories, ad ds to th e problem. In Off

Ba lan ce: Youth , Race a nd Crim e in the

New s , another Build ing Block s report ,

resea rch ers from th e Berkeley Media

Stu dies Group a n d th e J u s t ice Policy

In sti tu te fou n d th at overall m edia coverage

of you th crim e is increa sing regardless of

ac tua l chan ges in cr ime a nd tha t youth

and minori t ies are over-depicted as

cr imina ls in th e news m edia.

Consequ ently despite a 68 % declin e in

you th h omicides from 19 93 to 199 9, 62%

of poll respond ent s in 1 99 9 b elieved youth

cr ime was u p. These d ata m ake i t evenmore imp or tant tha t chi ld a dvocates learn

to access th e media with m essages tha t

will resonate with the public. Advocates

for chi ldren an d youth need to equ ip

them selves to meet th ese issu es .

In form ation on ju venile ju st ice research ,

and on effective prevention and treatment

program s, i s available from a nu mb er of

sour ces , in clu ding the Building Blocks for

Youth website,www.buildingblocksforyouth.org.

Information on public opinion has not

been as readi ly avai lable, in par t becau se

th ere h ave been few pu blic opinion polls

taking an in-depth look a t at t itu des

toward you th, cr ime, race, an d th e ju s t ice

sys tem.

To add ress th e gap in p u blic opin ion

research , Build ing B locks for Youth h a s

resp ond ed in s everal ways. First , i t

su rveyed th e a vailab le pu blic opinion

research on you th a nd jus t ice issu es ,su ch as p olls condu cted in p as t years by

the Gallup Organization, CBS News, NBC

News, CNN, Time , The New York Times ,

The Los Angeles T im es , an d th e Californ ia

Welln ess Fou n da tion. Secon d, i t con vened

a s eries of ten focus grou ps , two each in

Balt im ore, Richm ond , Ch icago, Seatt le,

an d South San Francisco, on youth ,

cr ime, an d ra ce issu es . The groups were

separa ted by gender , race/ ethn icity, and

edu cat ion level to facilitate ca n did

discuss ions . 7 Th ird, i t con du cted an

extensive national survey on at t i tudes

toward you th crim e, the juvenile ju st ice

sys tem, the impact of race, an d m essages ,

policies, an d m essen gers for cha n ge.8 This

pu blic opinion research was u n der taken

by Belden Rus son ello & Stewart , a

research an d comm u n icat ions firm located

in Was h in gton , DC.

Other grou ps h ave also surveyed on th ese

iss u es. In a n ticipa tion of th e 100 th

an n iversa ry of th e firs t J u venile Cour t in

Cook Cou n ty, Illinois, th e Ch ildren ’s Cou rt

Centen n ial Comm ittee (CCCC)

commiss ioned Peter Har t Research an d

Pu blic Opinion Stra tegies to d o a su rvey in

Il l inois of adult and youth at t i tudes about

juvenile justice issues. The FrameWorks

In s t itu te an d th e Center for

Comm u n icat ions an d Comm u ni ty at UCLAprepared a su mm ary and an alys is of

su rvey research related to th e pu blic’s

at t i tudes concern in g adolescents ,

performed a con tent a na lys is of the

repres ent at ion of ad olescen ts in television

enter t a inm ent program ming, an d

condu cted in -depth in terviews an d focu s

groups du r ing 1999 and 200 0.9



Publ i c Opinion on Youth , Cr ime a nd Race : A Guid e for Ad vocat es6

This a dvocacy gu ide su mm arizes th e

pu blic opinion research on youth an d

ju ven ile jus t ice issu es from th e Building

Blocks focu s group s a n d n at ion al poll, as

well as other polls. Unless otherwisen oted, detai led fin dings discu ss ed below

are from th e Build ing Block s poll. After

su mm arizing th e pu bl ic opin ion research ,

this advocacy guide makes

recomm end at ion s abou t how advocates

can fram e the i ssu es in thei r work

(focusing on effective messages and

mess engers), an d h ow they can u se this

in form ation in th eir organ izin g an d

ad voca cy efforts .




EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH FINDINGS

YOUTH AND J UVENILE CRIME

• The pu b lic is le s s fea r fu l abou t c r ime t han in t he pas t

• However, the pu blic believes tha t ju veni le cr ime is increas ing

• Th e pu blic overwh elmingly believes th at youth violence is a big problem facing th e

count ry

• The concern a bout you th a nd cr ime is evident in th e pub lic’s r eac t ion to t e rms u sed to

describe people u n der th e age of 18

• A s ignifican t por t ion of the pu bl ic ass ociates juveni le cr ime with youth who are youn g

teenagers

• At the sam e t ime, the pu blic is skept ica l about d epic t ions of youth an d cr ime in the

media

• Con trary to con vent iona l wisdom, th e pu blic does n ot associate ju veni le cr ime pr imar i ly

with th e poor, bu t inst ead sees crime a s a problem a t a ll socio-econom ic levels

• Th e pu blic associates a wide var iety of cr imes with youn g people

• Th e pub lic believes tha t youth who break the law will commit other cr imes in the fu tu re,

even if you th h ave no p rior record 10

• The pu blic be lieves tha t m an y fac tor s cau se ju venile c rime



Publ i c Opinion on Youth , Cr ime a nd Race : A Guid e for Ad vocat es8


YOUTH AND THE J USTICE SYSTEM

• Th e pub lic has s er ious concern s abou t the effect iveness of the ju veni le ju s t ice sys tem

• Out of frus t r a t ion over a b roken ju venile ju s t ice sys tem, the pu blic su ppor ts p rosecut ion

of ju veniles in a du lt crim ina l cou rt for a wide ra n ge of offen ses

• The pu blic believes tha t the na ture of the offense is mu ch more impor tant th an a

you th’s pr ior record or a ge in determining pu nishm ent

• The pu blic has grea t concern ab out what ha ppens to youn g people in th e ju s t ice sys tem

• Th e pu blic overwh elmingly (90%) su ppor ts a focus on p revent ion a nd reha bilitat ion

rath er th an imp r isonm ent , a nd s t rongly endorses a var iety of reha bilitat ion program s

RACE AND FAIRNESS

• The pu blic holds m ixed an d complex views ab out r ac ia l s t ereotypes an d cr ime

• The pu b lic is no t ce rt a in whe t he r t he s ys t em ac t s in a b ia s ed man ner

• The pu blic is c lear ly concern ed about fa irn ess in th e ju s t ice sys tem

• Large ma jorit ies su ppor t measu res to r emedy un equ al t rea tment of r ac ia l minor it ies

• The pu blic is more aware of economic un fa irn ess in th e sys tem

• The pu blic cons ider s r ac ia l inequa lit ies an d economic un fa irness as equ ally impor tant





MESSAGES & MESSENGERS

• The pu blic is per sua ded by pro-chan ge messages tha t a re prac t ica l an d tha t r ecognize

th e poten tial for cha n ge of you th in trou ble

• The h ighes t percentage of r esponden t s foun d cer t a in pra c t ica l messages mos t

convincing, e.g. “A system that does little more than lock up juveniles will lead to more

crim e, not less .”

• A su bs tan t ia l nu mber of r espond ent s a lso foun d convincing messages tha t speak to

you th s’ poten tial for cha n ge su ch as “J u venile offend ers often h ave emotion al problem s

an d n eed cou n seling, not pr ison.”

• For ma n y people, however, negat ive at t itu des toward you th a re deeply ingrained

• Messages tha t appeared to be excu ses for cr iminal condu ct were not convincing , such as

“Man y teen agers who comm it cr imes were ab u sed a nd n eglected wh en they were youn g.”

• The pu blic was l es s convinced by messa ges tha t c it e s t a t is t ics

• Mu ch of the pu blic finds convincing those messages tha t focu s on accou ntab ility and

cons equ ences for you n g people

• Th e pu blic does not fin d th e s t raightforward “pu bl ic safety” argum ent , “Lockin g up

ju venile offend ers s end s a m essa ge an d will mak e comm u n ities s afer” very con vin cin g

• The pu blic supp ort s cou r t -imposed cons equ ences for youn g offender s tha t s t r es s

resp ons ibility an d accou n tab ility

• Near m ajor it ies believe tha t cer tain program s would be very effect ive for youth , su ch a s

requ iring an d pr ovidin g pr ofess ion al coun selin g to ju venile offen ders or u sin g ‘sca red

st ra igh t’ pr ogram s in wh ich juven iles who comm it crimes visit ad u lt facilities

• Th e pu blic does n ot believe tha t in carcerat ion is effect ive

• The pu blic a lso makes c lear d is t inc t ions am ong those who car ry messages about c r imeand youth, giving highest credibility to rehabilitated juvenile offenders and victims of

crime, h igh cr edibility to policy an d ju dges, a n d leas t cred ibility to pu blic officials.



Publ i c Opinion on Youth , Cr ime a nd Race : A Guid e for Ad vocat es1 0

CONCLUSIONS

• The pu blic is r eady to su ppor t an a genda for ju venile ju s t ice r eform, bu t the agenda

m u st be t ied to the pu blic’s concern s a bout accoun tabi lity an d fai rness .

• The p u blic be lieves tha t the ju venile ju s t ice sys tem sh ould impose cons equ ences on

you th wh o break t h e law as a way of teach in g th em res pon sibility.

• Impos ing accounta bility and cons equ ences , however, does not n ecessar ily r equi re

incarcerat ion.

• Th e pub lic shows lit t le sup por t for s imply locking up youn g people.

• But the pub lic does not su ppor t the “youth excu se” e ither.

• Ins t ead , the pu b lic s uppor ts r ehab ilit a t ion and t r ea t men t p r ogr ams becau s e t hey

recogn ize that youth ha ve the p otent ial for chan ge an d in th e long ru n will make our

communities safer .

• Th e pub lic also cares abou t fai rness . In th e Bu ildin g Blocks poll in ear ly 199 9, the

pu blic, pa rt icu larly Wh ites, rep orted l it t le awaren ess of ra cial u n fairn ess. Neverth eless,

if told of u n fairn ess, a ll segmen ts of th e pu blic considered a m atter of seriou s con cern .

RECOMMENDATIONS

KEY MESSAGES

• Acknowledge accoun t ab ilit y

• Emph as ize tha t accou ntab ility does not necessar i ly mean incarcera t ion

• Frame prevent ion and reha bilit a t ion as prac t ica l r esponses to concerns ab out youth

crime

• Promote r eha bilit a t ion tha t inc lu des meet ing with an d compensat ing vic t ims

• Promote r ehabi lit a t ion tha t inc lu des mentoring and cou nseling

• In for m a b ou t r a cia l u n fa ir n e s s

• Link r ac ia l u n fa ir nes s t o economic un fa ir nes s

• Recogn ize that ra cial un fai rness is d ifferent from ineffect iveness of the sys tem



Publ i c Opinion on Youth , Cr ime a nd Race : A Guid e for Ad vocat es 1 1

• In fo r m abou t t he cons equences o f p r os ecu t ion o f you t h a s adu lt s

• Avoid t h e “you t h e xc u s e”

• Don’t r ely on s t a t is t ic s a lone

RECOMMENDATIONS

KEY MESSENGERS

• Put a “face” on th e problem th rou gh per sona l s tories of incarcera ted you th

• Use appropr ia te messengers su ch as r eha bilit a t ed ju venile offender s an d the ir parent s

an d vict im s of cr im e

• Recruit u nu su al a llies su ch as police, prosecutors an d vic t ims organ iza t ions

MESSAGING

• Comm un ica t e c lea r and s t ra igh t fo rwar d mes s ages

• Use th ese messa ges proact ively an d look for oppor tu n it ies to com mu nicate your ju veni le

ju s t ice reform mess age to the p u bl ic th rough the media

• Tra in th e 'messengers ' to u t ilize the key messa ges in th is guide




PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH

FINDINGS

YOUTH AND JUVENILE CRIME

• The publi c is le s s fearfu l about cri me

than in the pas t :

As cr ime ra tes h ave dropped a cross th e

cou n try over the pa s t seven years , th e

pu blic is som ewha t less fear fu l ab ou t

crim e. Th u s, th e percenta ge of th e pu blic

that believes that overall crime is

in creas in g has actu al ly decreased

sign ifican tly over th e pa st s even years. ACBS an d New York T im es poll in 19 94

fou n d th at 7 3% of th e pu blic believed th at

cr ime was increas ing, bu t tha t dropped to

51% in 1 996 a nd to 38% in the Building

Blocks poll in 19 99 . Correspon dingly, only

3% of th e pu blic believed th at cr im e was

decreasing in 1994, bu t tha t rose to 26%

in 1999.

• Ho we v e r, t h e p ubli c be li e ve s t h a t

juvenile crime is increasing:

A su bs tan tial m ajority of th e pu blic

believes th at juvenile crim e is in creas in g.

A 19 95 CBS News an d New York T im es

poll found that 84% believed juvenile

crim e was in creas in g, comp ar ed to on ly

2% that believed juvenile crime was

decr ea sin g. By 199 9, 6 2% s till believed

that juvenile cr ime was increasing, and

on ly 8% believed th at juven ile crime wasdecreasing. The FrameWorks research

foun d th at th e pu blic believes th at youth

today are “different” from youth in the

pa st , i .e. , tha t toda y’s teen s h ave rejected

t radi t ional American values an d are

“selfish” and “materialistic.”

• Th e p u bli c o v e rw he lm i n gly b e lie v e s

that y outh violence is a big problem

facing the c ount ry:

Women are more likely to see youthviolence as a b ig problem tha n men , an d

peop le of color a re m ore likely to see it a s

a b ig problem th an Whites , but th e

concern cu ts a cross a ll categories: gend er,

race/ eth n icity, edu cation level, in come

level, political par ty, area of th e cou n try,

an d wheth er respon den ts l ive in ci t ies ,

su bu rbs , or rura l a reas .

• Th e c o nc e rn a bo ut y o ut h an d crim e

is eviden t in th e publ ic’s react ion to

terms use d to describe people un der

the age of 18 :

In the Building Blocks poll, the ter m s

“youth” and “young people” elicited

str ongly posit ive rea ctions an d lit t le in th e

way of n egatives. “Teena gers” also b rou ght

mu ch more p os it ive react ion th an n egat ive

(al thou gh th e Fra m eWorks poll fou n d

str ongly negative as sociat ions to th eword). In th e Build ing Block s poll, p u blic

reaction to “kids” was ab ou t equ ally

posit ive or neu tral , with som ewha t less

n egative reaction. Bu t th e term “ju venile”

was s tron gly negative: th ree t im es a s

m an y people saw it as n egative as s aw it

posit ive. From t h e focus grou ps it was

evident that the term “juvenile” is

as sociated with “ju ven ile d elin qu en t,” an d

therefore carries a very negative image.

• A s i gn i fi cant port i on o f t he publi c

associates juveni le crime with youth

who are yo ung tee nagers:

Two fifth s of resp ond ent s th ough t of

ju venile cr ime in conn ection with 13-1 5

year olds , an d a lm ost h alf as sociated

cr ime with 16 a nd 17 year olds .




• At t he s am e t im e , th e pu blic is

skept ical about depict ions of youth

and crime in the me dia:

The p u bl ic su spects th at m edia coverageof violen t juven ile crime p ain ts a distort ed

pictur e. Th is was clear in b oth th e

Building Blocks and FrameWorks focus

groups .

• Co n t ra ry t o c o n v e nt io n al w is do m ,

the publ ic doe s no t assoc iate

juve nile c rime prim arily with th e

poor, but inst ead see s c rime as a

problem at all socio-econ om ic levels :

Rou ghly equ al nu mb ers of the pu bl ic

believe th at ju venile cr ime is com m itted by

poor youth an d by m iddle-class youth .

Ind eed, in the Building Blocks poll, on e-

thi rd of the resp onden ts volu n teered th e

an swer th at juvenile cr im e is comm itted

by you th of al l econom ic clas ses. Th e

CCCC poll found similar opinions.

• Th e p u bli c as s o c ia te s a wi de v a rie t yof crime s with young peo ple:

Dru g offen ses were the m ost comm on

resp ons e, with ab out one qu art er, followed

in ord er by theft an d stea lin g, van da lism ,

robbery, sh oplift in g an d p etty th eft ,

m u rder, bu rglary, car th eft a n d joy-ridin g,

shoot ings an d s t abbings , an d as sa u lt an d

ba ttery. Overall, more respon den ts

identified youth with non-violent crimes

(dru gs an d p roper ty offens es su ch as theftan d bu rglary) th an violent cr imes

(sh ootin gs, s tab bings, r obbery).

Respon dents cited th e leas t ser ious cr imes

(dru gs, vand alism , sh oplift in g) m ore th an

twice as often as th e m ost serious offen ses

s uch a s mu r der.

• Th e pu bli c be li e ve s t h at y o ut h wh o

break the law wil l com m it othe r

crime s in the future, eve n i f yout h

have no prior rec ord:

Almost 2 0% b elieve a you th is “a lm ost

certain” to re-offend, another 50% believe

a youth will “probably” re-offend.

Sign ifican tly, it d id n ot m att er wheth er a

you th was Black or Wh ite: th e percen tages

for each resp ons e was vir tu ally iden tical .

• Th e pu blic be lie v es t h at m a ny

factors cause juveni le c rime :

Th e pu blic believes th at th e most

im porta n t ca u se of ju venile cr ime is “lack

of st ron g fam ilies.” In ad dition , th e pu blic

lis ted , in descen ding order of im porta n ce:

dru gs , no sen se of r igh t an d wrong, gan gs ,

imm atu r ity an d bad ju dgment , availabi lity

of gu n s, t elevision a n d m ovie violen ce,

poverty, an d p oor sch ools . Ea rlier polls by

n ews organ izations m ad e similar fin dings.

YOUTH AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

• Th e p ublic h a s se rio us c o n c e rn s

about the ef fect iveness of the juveni le

jus t i ce sys te m:

4 in 10 ra te the juvenile ju st ice system as

“poor” or “very poor” a n d a n equ al

per cen ta ge rat e it “fair.” On ly 1% ra ted it

“excellent.” The public overwhelmingly

descr ibes th e sys tem as overbu rdened, too

lenient , an d u na ble to cha n ge you n g

people. A 1994 Gallup poll found similar

beliefs. The CCCC poll also found that the

ju venile cou rt is n ot viewed as m ak in g a

m ajor con tr ibu tion to h elping children in

trou ble. Th e pu blic is fear fu l of juven ile

crim e an d b elieves th at t h e ju venile ju st ice




sys tem does not hold you th a ccou nta ble

for th eir a ct ions . Th e pu blic believes t h at

the sys tem lets delinqu ent you th back on

th e streets too easi ly, with ou t

reha bi litat ion to tu rn thei r lives a roun d.

• Out o f frus t ra t ion over a broken

juveni le just ice sys tem , the publ ic

supports prose cut ion of juven i les in

adult c rim inal co urt for a wide range

of offenses:

Focu s groups reveal that the p u blic does

not un der s tand what it means to

prosecute a you ng per son a s an adu lt

(e.g. , tha t youth can be h eld in a du lt jails),

bu t th e clear feelin g is th at a du lt

prosecution carr ies a more certain

im posit ion of cons equ ences th an ju ven ile

court . Earl ier polls foun d s im ilar at t i tu des.

• Th e p ubli c be li e ve s t h at t h e n at u re

of the of fense i s much more

important th an a yo uth’s prior

rec ord or age in dete rmining

puni s hment :

In th e Building Blocks poll, alm ost t wo-

thi rds sa id th at th e most im por tan t factor

in set t ing pu nishm ent is th e type of cr ime

commit ted.

• Th e p ubli c h as g re a t c on c e rn a bo u t

what happens to young people in the

jus t i ce sys te m:

More tha n ha lf of responden ts in th e Building Blocks poll ra ted th e followin g

concern s a s “extremely seriou s” an d

an other 30% ra ted th em as “somewha t

serious”:

(1) The juvenile justice system is housing

you th in dir ty, dan gerou s, overcrowded

facilities.

(2) Too m a n y ju venile offen ders ar eh ous ed in facilit ies with ad u lt in m ates .

(3) Wealthy juveniles are less likely to be

locked u p th an are p oor ju ven iles for

commit t in g the sa me cr ime. 11

• The publi c overwhe lmi ng ly (90 %)

supports a focus o n preve nt ion and

rehabil itation rather than

imprisonm ent , and strongly endorses

a variet y o f reh abil itation programs:

Th e Build ing Block s poll foun d th at a mon g

reh ab ilitat ion m eth ods, th e pu blic hea vily

favors thos e tha t emp h as ize resp ons ibility

an d a ccoun tab ility: m eetin g with vict im s

an d compen sat ing vict ims . More than ha lf

also favor mentoring programs and

commu ni ty service, and n ear ly ha lf

su ppor t coun selin g and “scared s t ra ight”

program s. Only 15% th ought th at lockin gyout h u p in juven ile facilities is very

effective in reh ab ilitating th em . Ea rlier

polls fou n d m ajorit ies (th ou gh n ot as

large) supporting prevention over

in carcera t ion . Th e CCCC poll foun d th at a

majority is optimistic that offenders, even

violent on es, can be reh ab ilitat ed. Th at

poll also foun d th at Am erican s b elieve th at

an y adu lt can m ak e a differen ce in th e life

of a you n g person by volu n teerin g t im e as

a m ent or, you th group lead er, Big Broth eror Big Sister, or by becom in g a foster or

ad optive par ent . Th e Fram eWorks

research a lso emp h asized the imp or tance

of m en torin g and guidan ce for

adolescents .




RACE AND FAIRNESS

• Th e pu bli c h o ld s m i xe d a nd c o m p le x

views about racial s tereot ypes and

crime:

In th e Building Blocks focus groups , ma ny,

par t icipa nts talked abou t Black youth

comm itt ing crim es. There were

cons idera ble differen ces am ong

par t icipants , depending upon the

geograph ical location , gen der, an d incom e

level of participants. Some included White

you th in th eir picture of you th crim e,

others ta lked p r ima r ily abou t Black youth .

Some pa r t icipan ts looked at the m at ter in

term s of socio-econom ic iss u es, sa yin g

tha t th e problems dr iving youth toward

cr ime are p erhap s worse in the Black

comm u ni ty bu t are the sa me problems for

Black s a n d Whites, part icu larly lack of

str on g fa m ilies a n d feelings of

hopelessn ess . Other par t icipan ts said tha t

Black you th h old different values th an

White youth , an d th at comm it t in g cr imesis a r i te of pa ss age for m an y Black you th

today.

In th e nat iona l Build ing Block s poll, when

as ked th e qu estion directly, ju st over a

th ird (34%) of resp ond en ts a greed with th e

sta temen t “Black ju veniles are m ore l ikely

to comm it cr im e th an white ju veniles.”

White an d Lat ino r esponden ts were

slight ly mor e likely to agree with th e

s tatem ent ; abou t one-qua r ter of Black respond ents a greed with th e s tatemen t .

Th e resu lts were similar with th e

sta temen t “Black ju veniles ar e more pron e

to violence than juveniles of other races”:

35% a greed overall, the sa m e percenta ge

of Wh ite an d Latino resp ond en ts a greed,

an d 31 % of Black resp onden ts a greed.

For some p eople, thes e are two very

different qu estion s: th e firs t is a m att er of

cr im e stat is t ics an d th e second m ay reflect

deeply rooted biases. For others , the

qu estion s m ay seem qu ite s im ilar . As h asbeen noted in conn ect ion with pu bl ic

opinion polls r egard ing voting for Black or

Latino vs. White polit ician s, th ere m ay b e

sign ifican t d ifferen ces b etween resp ons es

to opin ion p olls a n d a ctu al beh avior.

An oth er Bu ildin g Blocks p oll qu est ion

in dicated th at h avin g a pr ior offens e ma y

override feelin gs a bou t ra ce. Th e qu estion

presen ted a scena r io of a teenager with no

cr imina l record wh o s tole a car a nd was

cau ght by th e police. For h alf th e

respondents , the teenager was identif ied

as Wh ite, for th e other h alf as Black .

When responden t s were asked about th e

likelih ood tha t h te teena ger wou ld comm it

an other cr ime, th e responses were near ly

iden tical: regar dless of th e teen ager’s ra ce,

19 % were “almost certain” he wou ld

commit anoth er cr ime, abou t ha lf thou ght

h e wou ld “proba bly” comm it an othercrime, a bou t 2 0% felt is was “u n likely”,

and 3% said it was “very unlikely.”

• Th e p ubli c is n o t c e rt ai n w he t h e r t h e

sys te m acts in a biased manne r:

In the Building Blocks poll , respondents

were equ ally split wh eth er th e juvenile

ju st ice system treats Black s an d Latinos

fairly or unfairly. Breaking down the

resp ons es b y race, h owever, revealedsignifican t d ifferen ces: 7 ou t of 10 Black

respond ents believed th at th e sys tem is

u nfa ir to both grou ps , an d m ore than ha lf

of Latino r espon den ts b elieved th e system

is u n fair to Latinos (th ou gh n ot to Black s).

There m ay be movemen t on th is i ssu e,

since th is poll was con du cted before the




sign ifican t m edia at t ent ion to ra cial

pr ofiling (pa rticu larly “Drivin g Wh ile

Black”) and the media coverage of reports

on ra cial disp ari t ies in th e ju st ice system

(in clu ding reports by Building Blocks for Youth ).

• Th e pu bli c i s c le a rly c o n c e rn e d

about fairness in the just ice system:

If told th at th e ju st ice system does trea t

Black you th u n fair ly, the pu blic clearly

con siders th e s itu at ion a ser ious m at ter :

almost h alf of resp ond en ts cons idered i t

“extremely seriou s,” an d a n other t h ird

cons idered i t “som ewha t seriou s.”

• Large majori t ie s s upport meas ures t o

rem edy un equal treatm en t of racial

minorit ies:

More than 8 in 10 en dorse requir in g

diversity training for police, prosecutors,

an d ju dges , and near ly 7 in 10 su ppor t

n ew guidelin es for arrest , pr osecu tion, an d

sentencing to address u nequa l t r ea tment .

• Th e p ublic i s m o re a wa re o f

eco nom ic unfairness in the sys te m:

More tha n three-qua r ters bel ieve th at

wealth y you th r eceive better t reatm en t

than poor youth , an d more tha n 8 in 10

cons ider i t a seriou s iss u e if th ey were told

th at wealthy you th ar e less l ikely th an

poor youth to be locked u p for the sa me

crimes.

• Th e pu bli c c o n s id e rs ra c ia l

inequal i t ies and economic unfairness

as e qually important:

Factor an alysis of su rvey respons es

in dicates tha t at t itu des abou t racial

in equ it ies tr ack closely with at t i tu des

toward econom ic u nfairn ess : the pu blic

considers both to be comp ara ble

injust ices.

MESSAGES AND MESSENGERS

• Th e p ubli c is p e rs u ad e d by p ro -

change messages that are pract ical

and that recognize the potent ial for

chan ge of youth in trouble:

As noted above, the public overwhelmingly

su ppor ts p revent ion an d reh abi litat ion

ra ther than impr i sonm ent .

• Th e high e st pe rc e nt age o f

respondents found these pract ical

mes s ages m os t c onv inc i ng:

A s y s tem that d oes little m ore than

lock up juve niles w ill lead to m ore

crim e, not less .”

In th e long run, it is les s exp ens ive to

rehabilitate someone rather than tok eep the person in jail or pris on.”

• A s u bs t an t ia l n u m be r o f re s p on d e nt s

also found convincing m essages t hat

speak to yout hs’ poten t ial for

change:

“J u v e n ile o f f e n d e rs o f te n h a v e

e m o t i o n a l p r o b l e m s a n d n e e d

coun s eling, n ot pris on.”

“Mos t juven iles w ho comm it crim es

have the potential to be rehabilitated

and to change.”

• Fo r m a n y pe o p le , h o we v e r, n e ga ti ve

att i tudes toward youth are de eply

ingrained:




In the Fram eWorks focus grou ps , a du lts

regularly discou n ted posit ive s tat is t ics

abou t youth an d ins tead focused on a few

negative trends.

• Me s s age s t h at a ppe are d t o be

exc use s for criminal con duct were

not convincing:

“ Many teenagers w ho com m it crim es

w ere abus ed and neglected w hen they

w ere y oung.”

“It’s only natural for people to make

mis takes w hen they a re y oung.”

• Th e pu bli c w as le s s c o n vi nc e d by

me ssages that c i t e s tat is t i cs :

For exam ple, th e pu blic was less

con vin ced by the s ta t is t ical argu men t th at

“ninety-four percent of juveniles arrested

are arrested for non-violent crimes.” And

th ey gave lit t le creden ce to the n otion th at

“m ost juveniles wh o comm it cr imes a re

first t ime offend ers a n d d o not comm itan other cr ime.”

• Mu c h o f t h e pu bli c als o fi nd s

convincing those messages that

focus on accountabi l i ty and

cons equences for young people:

“Victims of a crime h av e a right to s ee

that the offend er is pun ish ed, no m atter

how young he or sh e is .”

“If w e react in a tough w ay the firs t time a juvenile commits a crime, the

juv enile w ill be les s lik ely to brea k the

law in the future.”

“Locking up juve ni les w ho com m it

crime is the first step to rehabilitation

because i t teaches young of fenders

that there are consequences for their

crimes.”

“Locking up juve nile offend ers s en ds

a m es s age to other juven iles that w ill

m a k e t h e m t h in k t w ic e b e fo re

com m itting a crim e.”

• Th e pu blic do e s no t fin d t h e

straightforward “public safety”

argument very convincing:

Th e poll foun d th at th e pu blic does not

find the “public safety” argument, i .e.

“locking up juvenile offenders send a

m essa ge to the comm u n ity tha t we will be

sa fe from crime” very con vin cing.

• Th e p u bli c s u pp o rt s c o u rt -i m po s e d

consequences for young offenders

that s tress respo nsibi li ty and

accountabi l i ty:

For exam ple, ma jorit ies b elieve th at th e

following would be very effective in

rehabilitation efforts:

(1) Requiring youth to meet with their

vict ims to u nd ers tan d th e imp act of thei rcrimes.

(2) Requirin g yout h to compen sa te th eir

victims for th eir loss .

3) Requ iring you th pa rticipa tion in

m entoring pr ogram s with ad u lt role m odels.

(4) Requirin g yout h to do comm u n ity

service.

• Near majori t ie s be l ieve t hat cert a in

programs would be very effective for

yout h:

(1) Requiring and providing professional

cou n selin g to ju venile offen ders




(2) Usin g ‘sca red str aight ’ pr ogram s in

which juveniles who commit crimes visit

ad u lt faci lit ies t o see wh at th ey are like

• Th e p ublic d oe s n o t be lie v e t ha tincarce rat ion is e f fec t ive:

Only 15 % said th at “lockin g them u p in

juvenile facilities” would be very effective

for rehabilitation.

• Th e pu blic als o m ak e s c le ar

dis t inct ions among t hose who carry

me ssages about cr ime and youth,

giving h ighest credibi li ty to

rehabil itated juvenile offenders and

vict im s of crime, high credibi li ty to

pol ice and judges , and least

credibility to public o fficials:

The public is most likely to listen to those

who have been directly involved with the

system: rehabilitated juvenile offenders

an d victims of ju venile crime. Next in lin e

of th ose th e pu blic is likely to listen to ar e

th e police an d ju dges. Less likely are th eU.S. Depar tm ent of J u s t ice, prosecu tors ,

television n ews, an d n ewspa pers . Elected

officials a re th e people who th e pu blic ar e

least likely to list en to for inform a tion on

juvenile crime, even less likely than the

ACLU, which is regularly attacked by

politician s a s “soft on crime.”

CONCLUSIONS

From the Bui lding Blocks poll , we can

conc lude that :

• Th e p ubli c is re a dy t o s u pp ort a n

agen da for juve nile justice reform,

but the agenda must be t i ed to th e

publ ic’s co nce rns about

acco untabi li ty an d fairness .

• Th e p ubli c be li e ve s t h at t h e ju v e ni le

jus t i ce sys te m should impose

conse quences on youth who break

the law as a way of teach ing them

responsibil ity.

• Im p os in g ac c o un t abilit y a nd

conse quences , ho wever, does not

necessarily require incarceration.

• Th e p u bli c s h o ws l it t le s u p po rt fo r

s imply locking up young people.

• Bu t th e pu bli c d oe s n o t s u pp o rt t he

“youth e xcuse ” ei ther.

• In s t e ad , t h e pu blic s up po rt srehabi li tat ion and treatme nt

programs bec ause th ey recognize

that youth have the potent ia l for

chan ge and in th e long run wi ll make

our com m unit ies safer.

• The publi c als o cares about fa irnes s .

In the Bui ld ing Block s poll in early

19 99 , the publ ic, part icularly

Whites, reported l itt le awareness of

racial unfairness. Nevertheless, i f

told of unfairne ss , al l se gme nts o f

the publ ic c onsidered a matte r of

ser ious c once rn.




RECOMMENDATIONS

KEY MESSAGES

Based on th e Bui lding Blocks poll and

earl ier pol ls , c ertain “key” me ssages

can be ef fect ive ly ut i lized with the

public:

• Ac k n o wle d ge a c c o un t abi li ty

Regard less of wheth er th e pu blic is a ware

of th e da ta s h owin g decreased ju venile

crim e over the pa st seven years, th e pu blic

h as a s tron g belief th at ju venile cr im e is aser ious problem, an d h as a genu ine fear of

you th violence. The pu blic wan ts to feel

th at youn g people wh o break th e law will

face cons equ ences . The p u blic believes

th at ju venile cour t often gives youth a s lap

on th e wr is t , an d consequ ent ly the p u blic

h as lit t le fai th th at ju venile cou rt will tu rn

you t h a r ound .

Accountability is a principle that everyone

can emb race, r egardless of ideologicalpers pective. Advocates for you th , pa ren ts ,

community organizations, public officials

an d th e police can a ll su ppor t th e idea

tha t you n g people n eed to be h eld

accoun table for their a ct ions , so th at th ey

can learn from th eir misdeeds an d

u nd ers tan d tha t wrongdoing car r ies

consequences .

Ackn owledgin g accou n tab ility at th e

beginn in g of a p u bl ic presenta t ion h as the

added benefits of establishing credibility

qu ickly (becau se it is a rea son ab le an d

sen sible principle) an d disar m in g poten tial

crit ics (becau se i t negates th e stereotype of

mushy-thinking l iberals who are only

looking for excu ses for crimin a l beh avior).

Acknowledging accountability also opens

u p a venu es of comm u n icat ion with

u n u su al allies su ch a s police an d vict ims

organizations.

• Em p h as iz e th a t a c c o un t abilit y d oe snot necessari ly mean incarcerat ion

Holding you n g people accou n tab le does

n ot necessar i ly mean locking them u p.

There a re ma n y in tervent ions , t reatmen t

programs , an d p lacements th a t impose

consequen ces on you th withou t relying on

inca rcerat ion, an d th e pu blic s t rongly

su ppor ts t reatm ent a n d reha bi litat ion over

incarcerat ion.

Interventions and rehabil i tat ion programs

vary in severity and restrictiveness. At one

end of the sp ect rum are performing hou rs

of community service, paying a fine,

comp ens ating vict im s, m eetin g with

vict im s, an d individu alized program s su ch

as mentoring, counseling, and alcohol or

dru g t reatmen t , al l of which ca n be

im posed withou t s ign ifican t disru ption to

a youth ’s d ai ly schedu le. Other you th ma yrequire after-school programs or other

“day report ing centers” that youth at tend

at s pecific hou rs a n d receive adu lt

su pervision . For other youth , it ma y be

ap propr iate to im pose restr ict ions on th eir

movemen t a n d act ivit ies th rough

electronic mon itorin g, hom e deten tion, or

close su pervision from m onitors who s ee

or speak with you th several t imes a day.

Sti ll other youth m ay need res iden tial

comm u ni ty-based programs su ch asgroup h omes or sp ecial-needs foster care.

Only you th who are t ru ly a da nger to

them selves or th e com mu ni ty sh ould be

cons idered for incar cerat ion, i .e., ei ther

detained before their adjudication hearing

or comm it ted to an in s t itu t ion a s a

disposition of their case.




There is abu nd an t informa t ion available

on th e wide ra n ge of al tern atives to

incarcerat ion.

• Frame prevent i on and rehabi li t at i onas pract ical responses to concerns

about you th crime

Th e pu blic believes th at you n g people h ave

the capa city to cha nge, an d tha t

prevention a n d reh ab ilitat ion ar e clearly

preferable to incarcerat ion, but messages

ar e m ore likely to be effective wh en th ey

are l in ked to p ract ical benefit s s u ch as :

“M os t y o u n g of f e n d e r s h a v e t h e

capa city to chan ge for the b etter.”

“A s y s tem that d oes little m ore tha n

lock up juve nile offend ers w ill lead to

m ore crim e, not less .”

“Spending money on rehabi l i t a t ing

you t h i s mor e cos t e f f ec t i ve t han

simp ly keeping the pers on in prison.”

• Pro m o t e re h abi li ta ti on t h a t i n c lu de s

me et ing wi th and com pensat ing

vict ims

Reha bilitat ion efforts th at in clu de m eetin g

with vict im s a n d com pen sa tin g vict im s

provide effective consequences for young

people, pr omote th e principle of

accountabil i ty, and receive strong support

from th e pu blic. Su ch efforts a re an

imp or tant par t of the “balan ced an dres tora tive ju st ice” m odel of juven ile

justice.

• Pro m o t e re h a bilit at io n t h a t i nc lu de s

me ntoring and counse l ing

The pu blic su ppor ts m entor ing an d

coun selin g program s, bu t the pu blic’sconcern abou t a ccou nta bility ind icates

tha t su ch pr ogram s m ay not be su fficient

by them selves to gain broad su ppor t .

Thu s , advocates sh ould promote

comprehensive reh ab ilita tion efforts for

you th in trou ble, in clu ding con tact with

victims and individual mentoring and

counseling.

• In form about rac ia l unfa irnes s

Th e pu blic reports lit t le awar en ess of

racial un fairn ess in th e ju venile ju st ice

sys tem, but informa t ion abou t su ch

u n fairn ess s tr ikes at a d eeply-h eld belief

tha t th e sys tem sh ould be fai r to all you th.

Th is is a core Am erican valu e. If pres ent ed

with su ch informa t ion, the p u bl ic can be

m oved to a ction. The p u blic s tron gly

supports diversity training for police,

prosecutors , an d judges , as well as newguidelin es for arrest , prosecu tion, an d

sentencing to address u nequa l tr ea tment .

In providing stat is t ics ab ou t racial

u n fai rness , advocates mu st m ake i t c lear

t ha t s u ch da t a m eas ur e d is pa r a t e

t reatm ent for the sa me offense. Th u s , the

second Building Blocks report , And Ju stice

for Some , found that African-American

you th ad ju dicated for violent offens es,

with n o prior adm iss ions to sta te facilit ies ,were committed to state inst i tut ions 9

t imes as often as White youth ad ju dicated

for violen t offen ses with n o pr ior

ad m iss ions . African -Am erican you th

ad ju dicated for dru g offens es with n o prior

adm iss ions were comm it ted to s tate

ins t itu t ions 48 t imes as often as White




you th ad ju dicated for dru g offen ses with

n o prior adm iss ions . Sim ilarly, the m ean

len gth of s ta y in sta te in st i tu t ions for

African -Am erican you th ad ju dicated for

violen t offen ses was 9 0 d ays longer th anth e mea n length of s ta y for Wh ite you th

ad ju dicated for the s am e offens es. Th e

m ean len gth of s ta y for Latino yout h

ad ju dicated for violent offens es wa s 150

days longer tha n the m ean for Wh ite

youth .

This is different from “over-

repres en tat ion.” “Over -represen tat ion”

u su ally refers to the percen tage of

m in ority you th in th e gen eral popu lation

compa red to the percen tage of m in ority

you th at a s pecific poin t in th e ju st ice

system . For exam ple, s in ce African -

Am erican you th a re 15% of th e adolescent

popu lat ion bu t 44 % of the popu lat ion in

ju venile det en tion fa cilities, th ere is over-

repres en tat ion of African -Am erican you th

in juvenile detention facilities. But those

da ta d o not tell u s wheth er African -

Am erican you th are treat ed d ifferentlyfrom Wh ite youth . It m ay be th at African -

American you th commit m ore ser ious

cr imes tha n Wh ite you th, wh ich migh t

accoun t for th e over- representa t ion.

Only by com pa ring (1) wha t ha pp ens to

m in ority you th cha rged with sp ecific

offens es with (2) wha t h ap pen s to White

you th ch arged with th e sam e type of

offen ses (violen t, pr operty, dr u g or pu blic

order offens es) can we determ in e wheth erminority youth are treated differently from

White youth , an d, consequ ent ly, whether

th e system is racial ly u n fair.

Thu s , the Building Blocks s tu dies repor t

h ow yout h of color are trea ted m ore

ha rsh ly tha n White youth for the s am e

crimes at every critical point in the justice

system : detention, form al processing in

ju venile court , t ran sfer to adu lt cr im in al

court, disposition (sentencing),

incarceration in juvenile facilities, andin carcera t ion in ad u lt facilit ies .

Th e difference b etween dispa rat e

t reatm ent for the s am e offense a nd over-

repres ent at ion is cr it ical to pres ent in g

messages effectively. If advocates fail to

ma ke it c lear th at ra cial un fai rness

involves h arsh er t reatmen t for the sa me

offens e, ma n y in th e au dience will dism iss

the d ata as evidence th at m inor ity youth

s imply comm it m ore cr imes tha n White

youth .

In add it ion, a dvocates n eed to presen t

per son al stor ies of you n g people of color

who h ave been in the jus t ice sys tem . The

pu blic sees youn g people who ha ve been

in th e system a s h ighly credible, an d

persona l s tor ies p u t flesh on th e s ta t is t ics .

Th e J u stice Policy In st itu te’s pu blica tion ,

Second Chances , featu red 25 stories of su ccessfu l ju veni le cour t gradu ates , ca n

be u ti lized a s a m odel in th is regard .

• Li nk ra c ia l u n fa irn e s s t o e c o n o m ic

unfairness

Th e pu blic’s b elief th at t h e ju stice system

sh ou ld trea t a ll yout h fairly a lso collides

with th e feelin g th at th e system trea ts

poor you th m ore ha rsh ly tha n wealthy

you th for th e sam e crim es. Sin ce pooryou th in Am erica a re disproport iona tely

you th of color, ad vocates ca n lin k r acial

u n fai rness in the ju s t ice sys tem with

economic unfairness. For example, poor

you th are u su al ly represented in ju veni le

cour t by pu blic defend ers, wh ile wealth y

(an d m an y middle-class ) you th are




represented b y pr ivate coun sel. In m an y

ju risdict ions , pu blic defend ers labor u n der

im poss ible cas eloads , sometimes a s h igh

as 50 0 to 1 ,000 cases . In su ch

circu ms tan ces , even th e most dedicated,ha rd-workin g, an d resourcefu l pu bl ic

defenders cannot provide effective

representat ion.

Th e third Build ing Block s report , Youth

Crime/ Adult Tim e , foun d tha t among

you th p rosecuted in ad u lt cr imina l cou r t ,

you th represented by pu blic defenders

were less likely to be tra n sferred b ack to

ju ven ile cou rt or a cqu it ted of the ch arges

tha n youth repr esented by pr ivate

coun sel . Th u s, m an y you th of color su ffer

in two ways: they are t reated more h arsh ly

in the s ys tem th an White youth for the

sam e offens es , an d th ey are represented

by pu blic defend ers wh o are less a ble to

provide effective representation. These two

points a re related: man y you th en d u p

deeper in the sys tem b ecau se thei r pub lic

defenders d o not ha ve the resour ces to

m ou n t effective defen ses or a rra n ge forcommuni ty placements .

• Re c o g ni ze t h a t ra c ia l u n fa irn e s s i s

di fferent from ineffec t ivene ss o f the

s ys t em

An a lysis of the Building Blocks survey

resu lts indicates tha t th e pu blic h olds it s

con cern s over effectiven ess of th e ju venile

ju st ice system sepa rately from a n y

con cerns abou t ra cial fai rness . The pu bl icwan ts accou n tab ility for you n g offen ders,

an d i t su ppor ts reh abi litat ion program s

rath er than inca rcerat ion, bu t it sees

th ese iss u es as dist in ct from rem edies for

racial disp ari t ies . Cons equ ent ly, advocates

need to address both i s sues .

The two issu es a re related, a nd ad vocates

can m ak e th e conn ection. An effective

ju venile ju st ice system sees ea ch you th as

an in dividu al . It h olds ea ch ind ividu al

you th a ccoun tab le for his or her own

act ions , an d it app lies cons equen ces tha tare app ropr iate to th e ind ividu al youth .

Th at p rom otes reha bilitat ion of th e you th ,

an d u lt im ately prom otes pu blic safety by

h elpin g the youth become a produ ct ive

citizen in our society. An effective juvenile

ju st ice system does n ot treat individu al

you ths as m embers of a ra cial or ethn ic

group – it does n ot arres t or detain or

adjud icate you th becau se of how some

mem bers of the group b eha ve. Thu s ,

ad vocates s h ou ld p rom ote an effective

ju venile ju st ice system a s a m ean s of

focus in g on each you th in dividu ally and

avoiding stereotypes about youth of color.

Remedies to com ba t s tereotypin g – su ch

as diversi ty tra in in g and developm en t of

n ew gu idelin es for police an d p rosecu tors

– promote a ju venile jus t ice system in

which ea ch you th is jud ged ind ividu ally.

• In fo rm a bo ut t he c o ns e qu e nc e s o f prose cut ion of youth as adults

Focu s grou ps indicate tha t the pu blic

su ppor ts prosecu t ion of you th in a du lt

cr imina l cou r t as a way of ass u r ing th at

you th are h eld a ccou nta ble for thei r

actions. Bu t the p u blic ha s lit t le

awaren ess of the consequ ences of

prosecut ion in adu lt cou r t . In a nu mb er of

s ta tes , youth prosecuted as adu lt s a re

h eld in a du lt jai ls before tr ial , an d a re sen tto adu lt prisons if convicted. Research h as

docum ented th e increas ed r isk to you th in

adult facilities of suicide, physical and

sexu al as sau lt , and as sa u lt with a

weapon.




It is importa n t for advocates to presen t

th is inform ation to th e pu blic. Th e pu blic

u nders tan ds th e dan gers to youn g people

in a du lt jai ls an d prisons , an d feels

s t rongly tha t you ng people sh ould not b elocked u p with a du lt in m ates . Advocates

sh ould thu s combine several types of

in form ation: (1) th e da n gerou s

con sequen ces of prosecut ion in adu lt

court in th eir pa rt icu lar s tat e, (2) person al

stories of young people who have been

vict im s of ab u se in a du lt jai ls a n d prisons ,

a n d (3) effective ways of pr ovidin g

accou n tab ility for yout h in juve nile court.

In add it ion, ad vocates ca n point out

exam ples of you n g people who comm itted

offens es, s ta yed in ju venile court an d were

not prosecuted as a du lt s , and ha ve

ach ieved sign ifican t s u ccess in th eir l ives.

Th e best sou rce for su ch exam ples is

Second Chances : Giving Kids a Cha nce to

Mak e a Better Choice , prepared by the

Children ’s Court Cen ten n ial

Communications Project , and available at

the Cen ter for J u veni le an d Cr imina lJ u st ice webs ite, www.cjcj.org (Pu blica tion s

– J u ly, 19 99 ). Th e exam ples in clu de

in dividu als who got in to troub le when th ey

were you n g but went on to become

prominent public officials, judges,

professiona l ath letes, Olympic ch am pion s,

even a U.S. Sena tor. (For exam ples, see

th e sa m ple ma terials s ection for opin ion

editorials from former youth offenders

Bran don Maxwell, Bob Beam on, Terence

Hallin an an d J eremy Est ra da).

• Av oid th e “y ou th e xc us e ”

Th e Build ing Block s su rvey foun d tha t the

pu blic is less persu aded b y argum ents

tha t you n g offenders h ave been a bu sed or

n eglected, tha t th ey are too youn g to be

resp ons ible for their cr im es, or tha t you n g

people often m ak e mista kes. Advocates a re

m ore likely to be effective with m ess a ges

abou t th e imp or tance of reha bi litat ion an d

th e poten tial of you n g people to cha n ge.

• Do n ’t re ly o n s t at is t ic s alo n e

Stat is t ics su ch a s th e fact th at 9 4% of al l

ju venile arr ests each year ar e for non -

violent offenses appear dramatic, but they

are n ot persu as ive in t h em selves. Th is is

tru e for several reason s. First , th e pu blic

is s kept ical in genera l about the u se of

s tat i s t ics to make a n a rgu men t , and often

qu es t ions th e source of the da ta. Second ,

even if th e pu blic accepts th e sta t is t ics , it

is s t i ll very concern ed a bou t th e violent

cr imes tha t you ng people do comm it .

Th ird, fear of violen t crim e is a powerful

emot ion, an d th e nu mb ers do not overr ide

tha t emot ional response.

This does not mean th at ad vocates sh ould

avoid s ta tistics altogether. Advocates

s hou ld u s e da t a s uch a s t hos e on t h erelatively sm all percen ta ge of juven ile

arr ests for violent cr imes, a n d on th e

significant racial disparities in how White

you th an d you th of color are t reated in th e

sys tem for the s am e offense, bu t th ey

sh ould us e the data in conjun ct ion with

ack n owledgmen t of th e need for

accountability, with solid information

ab ou t effective program s a s a ltern atives to

inca rcerat ion an d the da ngers of

prosecut ion as a du lt s , and per sona lstories to i l lustrate the messages.

• Us e th e s e k e y wo rd s an d c o n ce pt s

when com municat ing your me ssage

to th e public:




The pu bl ic opin ion r esearch ind icates th at

these words an d concepts resona te well

with th e pu blic:

• Reh a b ilita tion• Cou n selin g

• Pot en t ia l to ch a n ge

• Vic tim s ’ r igh t s

• Con sequ en ces

• Com m u n it y s er vice

• Men tor in g

• Pr eve n t you t h fr om b e in g h o u s ed

with adu lts

• You t h d o n ot b elon g in p r is on

• Av oid t he s e k e y wo rd s an d c on c e pt s

when com municat ing your me ssage to

the publ ic:

These words an d concepts do not resonate

well with th e pu blic:

• S t a t is t ic s to s how inc idence o f non-

violent or first-time offenders

• “You t h e xc u s es ” s u c h a s :

• Ab u s e ea r ly in life• You t h fu l m is ta k es

• Im ma tu rity

The p u bl ic does n ot clear ly un ders tan d

these key words an d concepts :

• Pr os ecu t e a s ad u lts

• Grou p h om es

• J u ve n ile fa c ilit ie s

• Non -violen t

• J u ven ile ju s t ice s ys tem

• Av o id us in g t h e t e rm “ju v e ni le ”

In th e Building Blocks poll, th e term s

“youth” and “young people” elicited

stron gly posit ive rea ctions an d lit t le in th e

way of n egatives. “Teen agers ” a lso b rou ght

mu ch more p os it ive react ion th an n egat ive

(al thou gh th e Fra m eWorks poll fou n d

str ongly negative as sociat ions to th e

word). In th e Build ing Block s poll, p u blic

reaction to “kids” was ab ou t equ allyposit ive or neu tral , with som ewha t less

n egative reaction. Bu t th e term “ju venile”

was s tron gly negative: th ree t im es a s

m an y people saw it as n egative as s aw it

posit ive. From t h e focus grou ps it was

evident that the term “juvenile” is

as sociated with “ju ven ile d elin qu en t,” an d

therefore carries a very negative image

KEY MESSENGERS

Based on the Bui lding Blocks poll and

earl ier pol ls , c ertain “key” me sse ngers

should be ut i li zed when conve ying

juven i le just ice reform m ess ages to the

public:

• Pu t a fa c e on t h e pro ble m t h ro u gh

person al s tories o f incarce rated

youth

As noted earlier, one of the best ways to

illu stra te abu ses in th e ju ven ile ju st ice

system is to pu t faces on th e iss u es. It is

im porta n t to tell person al s tories.

Advocates sh ou ld work with youn g people

who ha ve been in th e sys tem to convey the

da n gers of overcrowded , ill-equ ipp ed

juven ile facilities, a s well as th e p erils of

jai lin g youn g people with ad u lt inm ates .

(For an exam ple, see the sa mp le m ater ials

section for th e Build ing Block s fact sh eet ,“Dan gers of In ca rcera ting You th With

Adults.”)

Th e Build ing Block s su rvey in dicates th at

ma ny people wou ld b e moved b y su ch

stories to p rom ote juvenile jus t ice reform .

Th ese s tories ca n be extrem ely powerfu l.

When Congress in recent years ha s




cons idered federa l legislat ion to am end th e

J u veni le J u s t ice an d Delinqu ency

Prevention Act to allow more jailing of

chi ldren with adu lt in ma tes , one of the

most p oten t s t rategies by advocates h asbeen to presen t persona l s tor ies of abu se

by you n g people an d a ccoun ts of su icides

by grievin g par ent s . (For an exam ple, see

th e sa m ple ma terials s ection for th e You th

Law Cent er pres s release with qu otes from

J an ice Peterma n, a parent of a you th who

comm itted s u icide in a n ad u lt jail).

Th e pu blic is also very receptive to st ories

abou t youn g people wh o have tur ned th eir

lives around – local examples of the

Second Chances stories m ent ioned earl ier

in th is gu ide. (For examp les, see th e

sa m ple ma terials s ection for opinion

editorials from former youth offenders

Bran don Maxwell, Bob Beam on, Terence

Hallin an an d J eremy Est ra da).

• Us e a pp ro p ria te m e s s e n g e rs s u c h as

rehabil itated juvenile offenders and

the ir parent s and vict ims of crime

Th e Build ing Block s survey demonstrates

th at th e pu blic is m ost receptive to

mess ages presented by those who have

been directly in volved in th e system :

reh ab ilitated ju venile offen ders an d th eir

pa ren ts , a n d vict im s of cr im e. Th e pu blic

also gives significan t cr edibility to t h e

police an d jud ges. Th e pu blic is m u ch less

likely to be pers u ad ed by th e U.S.

Depar tmen t of J u s t ice, prosecutors ,television n ews, or n ewspa pers . Elected

officials are the least credible with th e

public for information on juvenile crime,

even less cr edible th an th e ACLU. (For

exam ples , see the s am ple mater ials

section for opinion editorials from form er

you th offen ders Bran don Maxwell, Bob

Beamon , Terence Hal lin an an d J eremy

Estrada) .

Advocates sh ou ld be a ware of th ese

differences , an d plan thei r presenta t ionsaccordin gly: a you n g person or p aren t who

tells th eir s tory in th e system , or a cr ime

victim wh o wan ts to redu ce crim e by

pr omot in g effective ju venile ju st ice

reform s, m ay be m u ch m ore effective tha n

a p olit ician who ha s h igh n am e-

recognition.

• Re c ru it u n u su al alli e s s uc h a s po li c e ,

prosecutors and vict ims

organizations

Some a dvocates for you n g people in th e

ju venile jus t ice system h ave been ret icent

ab ou t d evelopin g al lian ces with th e p olice,

prosecutors, and vict ims organizations.

They have as su med th a t th ey ha ve no

common grou n d with s u ch “pro-

prosecution” groups.

Advocates shou ld u nd ers tan d tha t allsegments in the commu ni ty have a s t rong

inter est in d eveloping a n effective ju venile

ju s t ice sys tem th at h as broad p u blic

su pp ort. An effective ju venile ju stice

sys tem ma kes the comm u n ity safer by

ena bling you th in t rouble to tu rn thei r

lives ar oun d, with out exposing them

unnecessari ly to the corrupting influence

of violent offend ers or a du lt inm ates .

Many police, prosecu tors, an d vict im s

organizations recognize this , and supporteffective juven ile ju stice reform s. Th u s,

ad vocates for youn g people shou ld seek

ou t a llies in law enforcemen t a n d vict im s

organ izations to cooperate on reform

efforts.




MESSAGING

• Co m m un ic at e c le ar an d

straightforward messages

Advocates s h ould develop an over -arch in g

m essa ge which h as th e followin g elemen ts:

(1) Th e m essa ge states t h e problem in

terms of a sys tem th at is ru nn ing contra ry

to ou r valu es (e.g., fairn ess );

(2) Th e m essa ge states th e solu tion in

terms tha t are con s is tent with ou r values

and describe practical s teps to bringing

abou t reform.

• He re a re s o m e e x am p le s :

(1) Society is givin g u p on youn g lives a n d

we are a ll payin g a h igh p rice. Lockin g u p

you n g people in trou ble in dir ty,

da n gerou s, overcrowded facilit ies , a n d

with ad u lt cr imin als , is cost ly an d

coun ter -produ ctive. It creates cr imina ls of

the future.

(2) We m u st r eh a bilitate you n g people in

trou ble. Most you th h ave the poten tial to

cha n ge, an d i t is less cos t ly and more

effective to tu rn th eir l ives a rou n d th rou gh

reha bi litat ion program s th an to con t inu e

to ar res t them an d lock them u p.

(3) Reha bilitat ion s h ou ld includ e program s

tha t teach you ng people that th ere are

cons equ ences for th eir a ct ions . Youn gpeople who comm it cr im es sh ou ld be h eld

accoun table to their vict ims an d to th e

comm u n ity in ways th at ar e effective –

simp ly locking th em u p is n ot effective.

(4) Am erica’s ju venile ju stice syst em m u st

be fair a n d effective. Bu t r igh t n ow, you n g

people of color are tr eated m ore ha rsh ly

tha n white you th for the s am e cr imes . Too

often , the s ystem u n fair ly doom s m in ority

you th to abu s ive conf inem ent an d n o

opportu n ity for reh ab ilitat ion.

(5) We m u st corr ect th is inju stice with

meas u r es t o addr es s t he u nequa l

trea tm en t of youn g people of color,

mea su res su ch a s n ew gu idelines for

ar res t , deten t ion, prosecut ion, and

senten cing tha t reduce racial bias a nd

overcome racial s tereotypes.

• Us e t he s e m e s sage s pro ac t iv e ly and

look for opportunit ies to communicate

your juven i le just ice reform m ess age to

the publ ic through the media

Don’t wait u n ti l th e n ext sch ool sh ootin g

to ‘resp ond ’ with th ese m essa ges, create

you r own media event an d com mu nicate

you r pro-active mes sa ge to the p u blic. Use

th e sa m ple talking poin ts on ju venile

ju st ice reform issu es in clu ded a s a gu ide

the n ext t ime you prepar e to speak at a

pu blic even t, m eet with you r localnewspaper’s editorial board, give

tes t imon y at a h ear ing with s tate

legislators , or a t your n ext s ta tewide

J u veni le Ju s t ice and Delin quen cy

Prevent ion Sta te Advisory Grou p m eetin g.

For su gges t ions on th ese potent ial

oppor tun it ies , see th e sa mp le m ater ials

section for th e docu m en t, “A Sam ple of

J u veni le J u s t ice Calend ar Even ts : Ann u al

Events th at You Can Use to Pu blicizeJ u ven ile J u st ice Iss u es, Every Year.”

For gen eral gu idelin es on working with th e

m edia, see th e Media Gu ide for You th

Advocates , pu blish ed b y the Office of

J u veni le Ju s t ice and Delin quen cy

Prevent ion (OJ J DP), an d a vailab le on th e




OJ J DP websi te at : h t tp: / / ojjdp.n cjrs .org/

jcci/ m ediakit .htm l.

• Tra in t he ‘mes s e ngers ’ t o u t i li ze t he

key m essages in thi s guide

For exam ple, you can u se th e ‘power poin t’

presen tat ion th at accompa n ies this gu ide

to presen t th e pu blic opin ion fin dings to

you th , ju ven ile ju st ice colleagu es, pa ren ts

groups , an d u nu su al a llies .

CASE EXAMPLES

THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN TOCLOSE CHELTENHAM

Background

Opened in 187 2 as the House of

Reform at ion for Colored Boys, th e

Cheltenh am you th d etent ion center is a

towering symbol of racial injustice in the

sta te of Maryland . Alth ou gh 1 7% of

Maryland ’s youth popu lation a re black ma les an d b lack m ales ma ke up 39% of

you th ar rests in Marylan d, fu lly 81% of

the youth in Cheltenham are African

Am erican boys. Over th e years,

Chelt enha m ha d a ser ies of scand als an d

abu ses th at generated coverage in th e

local newspapers. At one point, the facility

was s o over crowded t h at i t h eld over 30 0

you th a lthou gh it ha d a 16 7 bed capa city.

Cottages tha t were design ed to hold 24

you th were stu ffed with 10 0 youth , withonly 3 or 4 sta ff m emb ers su pervising the

cottages.

A fire sa fety in sp ector rep eat edly

recommended that Chel tenham be closed,

an d issu ed a repor t recomm end in g it s

closu re. Becau se th e bu ilding is s o old, a ll

of the cells have to be opened individually

by keys. In one fire insp ection r eport , th e

fire in sp ector in dicated th at th e

Cheltenham facility staff couldn’t find the

keys to m an y of th e youth s’ cells . Thefacility ha d n u merou s “dead end”

corridors th at cou ld becom e literal dead

end s in th e event of a fire.

In ad dit ion to fire an d h ealth s afety

problems, a s taf f m ember a t Cheltenh am

st ab bed a you th on New Yea r’s Da y in

20 01. Several m onth s ea rlier, a boy was

repeatedly raped a t Chel ten ha m. Ch ildren

were rout inely bru tal ized an d b eaten by

other you th an d s taf f. One worker

repor ted tha t su icide watch kids were

placed in i solat ion becau se th ere was n ot

enou gh s ta ff to su pervise th em.

Advocates Take Action

After the Secretary of Maryland’s

Depar tm ent of J u veni le J u s t ice pu bl icly

sta ted th at th e facility shou ld be ra zed

becau se of its d eplorab le condit ions , th eMarylan d J u venile J u st ice coalit ion took a

n u mb er of s teps to pu sh for Cheltenh am ’s

per m an en t closu re. Th e coalit ion form ed

the Maryland Campaign to Close

Cheltenh am , in volvin g pa ren ts of

inca rcerated you th, youth , act ivis ts , a nd

fa ith lead ers from a ll over th e sta te. With

su pp ort of th e Bu ildin g Blocks for You th

initiat ive, th e coalition devised a n d

delivered key m essa ges to the p u blic

thr ough a m edia ad vocacy cam paign ,m obilized in dividu als a n d organ izations al l

over th e sta te to at ten d several high ly

pu blicized events , a nd reached out to

thou san ds of concern ed cit izens thr ough

an e-activist a ppr oach u tilizin g a new

cam pa ign website to get bas ic cam pa ign

informa t ion, facts , p ress ma ter ials , an d




t ake ac t ion s t eps su ch a s s igning up to

join th e cam pa ign a n d receive cam pa ign

u pd ates via em ail, sen ding ema il let ters to

key decis ion ma kers an d s ign ing an on-

line p etition.

Delivering the Message

Advocates u t ilized k ey mess ages b as ed on

what the pu blic sup por ts su ch as

in carcera t ion is an in effective ap proa ch to

redu cin g youth violence, reh ab ilitat ion

over in carcera t ion, an d ra cial fairn ess.

The m essa ges a lso focu sed on ab u s ive

condit ions at th e facility an d realis t ic

solutions to closing the facility and

proposed al ternatives to incarcerat ion.

To deliver th ese m essa ges, advocates

organized three major events involving key

messengers , such as pa rent s of

in carcerated you th, youth , an d fai th

leaders.

First , a dvocates organ ized a pres s

con feren ce ca ll calling for th e closu re of the facil i ty and launching a campaign

webs it e and is su ed a p ress s t a t ement .

“Cheltenh am is n o place for kids. My son

needed h elp, bu t Cheltenh am provided n o

drug or rehabil i tat ive programs. Instead,

h e was b eaten an d n eglected. It’s

dan gerous , it doesn ’t work an d i t sh ould

be sh u t down,” sa ys Lin da Con way, a

spokesperson for the camp aign on the

pres s conferen ce call an d a m other from

Prin ce George’s Cou n ty whose s on wasbeaten du r ing h i s four m onths a t

Cheltenham for a non-violent offense. (For

th e fu ll s tatem en t, see App end ix or visi t :

ht tp :/ / www.closecheltenh am .org/

022201_pressrelease.html)

Second , fai th lead ers from a ll over th e

st at e called on th eir con gregations t o ‘get

on t h e bu s’ to m eet with key decision

ma kers to pu sh th em to t ake s t eps dur ing

a crit ical t im e period when th e legislatu rem ak es fin al decision s ab ou t th e state’s

bu dget. A spokesperson for the cam paign,

Reveren d Gregory Perkin s, Pres iden t of the

Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance

sta ted, “Cheltenh am is on e of th e las t

sym bols of Marylan d’s s egregationist J im

Crow policies, a n d is a pa in fu l reminder of

continuing inequality for minority children

in t h e ju ven ile ju st ice system . En ou gh is

enou gh. We need to sh u t down t h e facility,

an d br ing ou r chi ldren h ome to program s

th at work.” (For th e fu ll s tatem ent , see

Appendix or visit:

h t tp: / / www.closechel ten ha m .org/


Finally, advocates held a rally and testified

at th e legis latur e du r in g the bu dget

h ear in g on the Depar tm ent of J u veni le

J u stice’s bu dget . A sp okespers on for the

cam paign, J im McComb , Pres ident of theMarylan d J u venile J u st ice Coalit ion

sta ted, “Marylan d legislators h ave an

h istoric opp ortu n ity to close down th e

dan gerous Cheltenh am facility, an d

imp lemen t sou n d policies th at h elp ou r

kids tur n th eir lives arou n d, an d more

effectively bu ild an d p rotect ou r

comm u n ities .” (For th e fu ll s tatem en t, see

Appendix or visit:

h t tp: / / www.closechel ten ha m .org/


The Results

Th e u lt im ate ou tcome of th e cam pa ign

was legislat ion ena cted b y the legislatu re

through th e ann u al bu dget process to

ph as e down an d eventu al ly close the




facility, an d s ignifican t increa ses in

funding for al ternative community-based

program s for youth . Th rough this pu bl ic

cam paign, th e Marylan d press covered the

s tory an d repor ted on th e ma jor eventsorgan ized by th e activists . For th e fu ll

pres s coverage, see t h e App end ex or visi t :

ht tp :/ / www.closecheltenh am .org/

newsdesk.h tml . Thou san ds of Marylan d

cit izens cont acted k ey decision m ak ers by

sen ding let ters , cal lin g, and sign in g the

on-line petition.

Lessons Learned

Seize pol it ical opportunit ies :

Cheltenh am ’s d isgracefu l h istory as a

segregated correctiona l center com bined

with r ecent scanda ls an d abu se ma de it

an easy target for media an d a dvocacy

efforts . Advocates h ad always paint ed th e

facility as a dan gerous an d ina ppropr iate

place for children , an d h ad recomm ended

its closu re. The seed a dvocates h ad

plan ted began to grow when a n u mb er of

condit ions comb in ed to creat e a polit icalopportu n ity r ipe for closu re — the

Juvenile Just ice Secretary publicly stated

th at t h e facility sh ou ld b e dem olish ed, a

repor t by the fire depa r tmen t

recomm end ed it s closure du e to

ha zardous condi t ions , an d one youth was

raped a n d an other s tabb ed whi le in

deten tion. You th ad vocates imm ediately

seized th e oppor tun ity, an d began to

m obilize a pu blic cam pa ign.

Many Messengers, One Message:

One of th e greates t s tren gths of th e

cam paign was i t s divers ity and breadth .

J u venile ju st ice advocates were join ed b y

ministers, civil rights organizations, youth

groups, prison activists, social service

providers, parents of incarcerated youth

an d n ationa l experts a ll cal lin g for th e

closu re of th e facility. Th e ca m pa ign

app ealed to comm u n it ies who most care

ab ou t th e iss u e of ju venile ju st ice, an d

m obilized th em in a cohesive, powerfu lan d effective ca m pa ign of divers e citizens

who effectively com m u n icated th e n eed to

sh u t down th e facility.

Succ es sful Advocac y Requires Effect ive

Media St rate gy:

During the cours e of the ca mp aign , the

legislative and advocacy strategy was

in tim ately t ied to th e m edia work. Local

m edia ou tlets in th e distr icts of in dividu al

legislators a n d d ecision m ak ers were h igh

priority tar gets . Reporters a t influ en tial

n ews out lets were pitched, opinion p ieces

were placed, let ters to th e editors were

written, editorials were solicited, and

sp okespeople were placed on r ad io shows.

In ad dit ion to at tem pting to move key

decision m ak ers, th e med ia effort also

dovetai led ou treach an d m obilizat ion

efforts . Media ou tlets th at m ost d irectlyreached n a tu ra l cons t ituen t s were

tar geted with stra tegic mes sa ges. For

exam ple, th e Afro, a n African Am erican

n ewspa per in Balt im ore (where m ost of th e

you th in Cheltenh am cam e from), ran

stories, op eds , an d editorial ized abou t th e

cam pa ign. Man y of th ese pa pers even

explained h ow readers cou ld b ecome

in volved in th e cam pa ign b y directin g

th em to call th e legislatu re an d ta ke action

thr ough the cam paign’s websi te.

Target You r Me ss age : Different

Audience s , Dif ferent Mess ages:

In th e m edia a dvocacy efforts focu sed on

the Bal timore comm u ni ty pap ers an d

African Am erican out lets , th e m essa ge

h ighlighted disproport ion ate m in ority




con fin emen t a n d the h is tor ical racial

in ju s t ices at Cheltenh am .

In Montgomery Cou n ty, where th e

popu lation is largely, wh ite, u pper m idd leclas s , an d s omewhat progress ive, the

media a dvocacy messa ges em ph asized

th at Ch elten h am is n o place for children

by high lighting the fire h azar ds a n d

ph ysical/ sexua l abu ses occurr ing there.

Highlight Personal Stories:

Th e a dvocates provided reporters with

in dividu al s tor ies tha t wou ld pu t a h u ma n

face to th e iss u es we were talkin g abou t. A

moth er of a s on wh o was incarcerated in

th e facility described a d ay sh e went to

visi t her s on wh en h e was covered in

bru ises an d cu t s from a beat ing he

received while gua rds stood by an d

watched. A teacher who u sed to ins t ru ct

you th in th e facility described th e severe

lack of r esou rces su ch as books th a t m ade

teach in g n ear im poss ible. An in tak e officer

talked abou t th e ways in which s ick

children with h ealth issu es were held inth e infirm a ry with violen t offen der s. All of

th ese stories were told to reporters .

The advocates also negot iated a dram at ic

an d p owerfu l “exclu sive” with th e

Was h in gton Post to gua ran tee coverage.

Youth advocates a nd the m edia tea m

worked with th e fam ily of th e you th who

h ad been bru tal ly raped in th e facility to

help them sh are th eir s tory with th e press .

Th e child’s a n onym ity was protected, a n dthe family was accompanied during al l

in terviews. Th e resu lt was a p rominen t

story in a widely-read an d well-respected

pap er tha t otherwise might n ot have

covered th e cam paign .

Build and Maintain Momentum:

Advocates carefu lly plan n ed t h eir m edia

s t rategy, emp ha sizing bu ildin g momen tu m

in the efforts. For example, advocates first

organ ized a n in it ial teleph one p ressconference cal l to an n oun ce the cam paign

an d th e lau nch the webs it e ,

www.closecheltehn h am .org. Th e press

conference ph one cal l featu red a paren t ,

an exper t , a teacher a nd former s ta ff

person, a n inta ke officer, an d a s tate

legislator wh o a ll ca lled for t h e facility’s

closu re. Th e press covered th e event ,

featu ring th e form ation of th e coalit ion,

an d a ll m ent ioned th e website (which

great ly helped ou treach an d organ izing

efforts.)

The following week, advocates held a press

conference to announce the endorsement

of a n a llian ce of over 20 0 Ba ltim ore

ministers . The Associated Press, s tate and

local dailies, alternative weeklies, and all

th e local TV sta t ion s a t ten ded a n d covered

the conference. The endorsement of the

minis ters broadened th e base of thecoali t ion, and demonstrated growing

su pp ort for th e effort to close down th e

facility.

Finally, advocates encouraged press to

attend a budget hearing where coali t ion

mem bers tes t i fied a bou t th e n eed to close

Cheltenh am . Outs ide of the h ear in gs , a

group of you th a n d prison a ctivists

created a great ph oto oppor tun ity as they

kep t vigil over th e h ear in gs with colorfu lsign s a n d pu ppets . All of th e ma jor med ia

events su gges ted a bu ilding campa ign to

close th e fa cility.

Use All Available Media:

The media ou treach for the cam pa ign

targeted th e broad s pect rum of media




out lets availab le. Advocates esta blish ed a

website with u p-to-date inform ation, n ew

coverage an d pres s releases to keep al l

reporters eas ily in form ed. Larger s tat e

da ily pap ers were ta rgeted, as well assma ller bu t impor tant comm u ni ty an d

African American papers. News radio

sh ows ran s tor ies , an d m in is ters spoke

abou t th e cam paign on rel igious radio

s tat ion s . Evening news program s ra n

television s tories ab ou t th e cam pa ign, as

did local cab le a ccess cha n n els . A few,

carefu lly selected a dvert isem ent s were ru n

in less expensive, targeted newspapers,

u rgin g readers to call th eir legislators a n d

dem an d th e facility’s closu re. In sh ort , al l

availab le med ia was u sed for a tota l

ma rket sa tu rat ion of the Close

Cheltenha m campa ign .

THE LOUISIANA CAMPAIGN TO

CLOSE TALLULAH

Background

Opened in 1995 , th e Tal lu lah Correct ionalCenter for you th h as b een a n at ion al

scan da l for the hu ma n r igh ts violat ions of

chi ldren inca rcerated there, earn in g the

dist in ction a s “th e worst in th e na tion ”

with the New York T im es . The fa cility was

the b u s iness ventu re of three pr ivate

bus inessmen wi th no exper ience running

a p rison. In th e firs t th ree years of its

existen ce, Tallu lah you th pa rt icipa ted in

fou r ma jor rebellions , dema n ding bas ic

su pplies su ch a s ad equate food a nd

protections from a bu se. In 199 9, th ings

were so un safe for the you th, an d th e

gua rds , th at s ta ff actu ally walked off of

thei r pos ts a nd left more tha n 400

in carcerated boys u n su pervised.

Represen tat ives from h e depar tm ent of

corrections were flown in by h elicopter to

ha ndle the s i tua t ion .

In 1 998 the J u s t ice Depar tmen t su ed the

st at e of Lou isian a for violat ing th e civilr igh ts of you th h eld in sta te cus tody,

m ark in g the firs t t ime th e federa l

govern m en t actively su ed a s tate over the

conditions of its juvenile facilities. As part

of th e set t lem en t, the s tat e took over th e

facility an d p romised m ore m oney to clean

u p th e cond it ions .

Bu t two years later , Boys with sh attered

jaws a nd broken noses rout inely appea r in

Tallu lah ’s in firm ar y. Th e facility h as n o

competent psychologist to treat the 450

you th with beh avioral disorders,

depr ession a n d h istories of childh ood

abu se and t r au ma . And even though the

s tate h as ru n the facility s in ce 1995, th e

private owners s t ill m an aged to ma ke $9

m illion off of th e m isery of you th . A local

s tate sena tor ha s ca lled for the closu re of

th e facility.

Advocates Take Action

To end th e hor rendou s abu ses in th e

Tallu lah facility, the J u ven ile J u st ice

Project of Lou isian a join ed th e Federa l

Depar tm ent of J u s t ice in a lawsui t again s t

the s tate of Louis ian a for h u ma n r ight

violat ion s in t h e ju venile fa cility. Ou t of

the lawsu it came a prominent n at iona l

investigat ive story in th e New York Times ,

which referred to Tallu lah as th e n ation’sworst ju venile prison a n d deta iled th e

sp ecific ab u ses ch ildren su ffered in th e

facility. Yout h ad vocates lau n ched a

pr oject to cha n ge Lou isian a’s juven ile

jus tice policy on th e st at e level from on e

that relies almost exclusively on

inca rcerat ion to a sys tem th at focu ses on




comm u ni ty bas ed al tern at ives to

incarcerat ion. JJPL helped to coordinate

pa ren ts of Lou isian a’s inca rcerated

children to help th em b etter ad vocate for

th eir ind ividu al ch ildren as well aseffectively pu sh for broa der reform s in th e

ju ven ile ju st ice system . Th e pa ren ts grou p

took sh ape, the Parents an d Fr iends of

Lou isian a’s In carcera ted Ch ildren , an d

organ ized creative an d h igh-energy med ia

event organ ized by th e pa ren ts to ca ll for

the closure of the Tallulah facility and

m ore reh ab ilitat ive p rogram s for

Lou isian a’s you th .

Delivering the Message

From th e early sta ges of ad vocacy an d

reform, advocates and parents ut i l ized

pu blicly palata ble key mes sa ge to call to

for th e closu re of th e facility, an d for m ore

in ves tmen t in comm u ni ty bas ed program s.

The m essa ges emp ha sized tha t chi ldren

ar e bru tal ized in th e facility, an d th at th ey

do n ot receive th e reh ab ilitat ion, m edical

or menta l hea lth t r ea tm ent tha t they need .The m essa ges a lso ind icated th at b et ter

options exist to h old ch ildren accou n tab le

an d h elp th em tu rn lives aroun d.

To deliver th e m essa ge, advocates

emphasized the deplorable condit ions of

th e facility and th e better options th at

exist t o trea t ch ildr en in a ll of th eir work

with the media.

The pa rents group generated n ews byu sin g holidays as media hooks an d

creative even ts . On Fath er’s Day, one

father wrote a moving opinion article

abou t h ow he was u na ble to vis i t his son

who was incar cerated in Tallu lah for dru g

ab u se. He vividly described h is fam ilies

su fferin g an d th at p alpab le fear in h is

son ’s voice who was afraid of bein g beat en .

Th e op ed delivered th e key mess age th at

you n g people sh ou ld b e respon sible for

thei r act ion, bu t also no ch ild s hou ld b e

brutalized: “While young people should beh eld a ccoun tab le for th eir a ct ions , I do n ot

believe tha t a ch ild s hou ld be p u n ish ed

with ph ysical and emot ional abu se.”

Th e par ents also organ ized a “J azz

Fu n eral” to symb olize the dyin g dream s

an d opportu n it ies for Louisian a’s

Ch ildren , a n d to ca ll for “Tallulah RIP.”

Over 6 0 fam ilies , yout h , ci t izen s an d

su ppor ter s m arched down th e s t r eet s of

New Orlean s beh ind a h orse drawn

carriage carryin g a coffin , an d b earing

signs calling for th e closu re of Tallu lah .

The very nam e an d n atu re of the m edia

event d ram at ical ly comm u n icated th e key

messa ge tha t ch i ldren h opes an d dreams

for a better futu re were dyin g in

Lou isian a ’s fa cilities .

In all of th e in terviews with th e m edia on

th e jazz fu n eral , media sp okesp eopleemph as ized th e messa ge tha t chi ldren

deserve a second chan ce, and tha t

Lou isian a facilit ies d estroy dream s ins tead

of reh a bilita te ch ildr en : Avis Br ock, a

pa ren t organ izer , told th e New Orlean s

Times Picayu ne : “Before we lock ou r k ids

u p, we n eed to be a ble to look our selves in

th e m irror a n d s ay we’ve don e al l we can

for this child.” The funeral procession was

followed by moving presentations from key

messengers su ch a s pa rent s an d formal lyinca rcerated youth , wh o sha red thei r

pers ona l s tories of children ’s a bu se a n d

n eglect an d ca lled for th e closu re of

Tallu lah . Th e pers ona l s tories of th e

parent s an d youth comm u nica ted the

need to close the facility in a powerful and

m ore com pellin g way tha n d ata ever cou ld.




Also, a ll of th e m at erials a n d in terviews

cons isten tly referred to in carcera ted you n g

peop le as “yout h ,” or “ch ildr en ” ins tea d of

“ju veniles.” One m other described h ow her

son h ad h is jaw broken in th e facility, an dh ow even sh e was afra id t o visi t :

“[Tallu la h ] is n owher e you wan t t o go….I

ha ted to go there. I wan ted to see my

child, b u t I didn ’t wan t to go th ere.”

Th e even t was covered b y all fou r loca l

television stations, who interviewed the

key messen gers : a p aren t , a r eha bilitated

you th offen der, a local ju dge, an d a

polit ician . Sen ator Don ald Cra vin s, Ch air

of th e J u diciary B comm ittee which

overs ees corr ection s, ca lled for closin g

Tal lu lah , an d poin t to a sen s ible an d

rea liza ble altern at ives. Cravins ’ op-ed

referenced a n other Lou isian a juvenile

facility th at h ad su ccessfu lly been closed:

“By working closely with corrections

officials, police, prosecutors and the

comm u ni ty, the J ena youth pr ison was

sa fely closed in only six weeks, a n d t h e

you th were moved in to r igorous lymon itored commu n ity-and -fam ily-bas ed

pr ogram s or oth er facilities…We sh ou ld

spend th e next 12 month s p lan ning to

replicate the J ena s u ccess s tory an d to

su ppor t , emp ower and p repare a clu s ter of

local t reatm en t program s to give the

s tate’s t rou bled you th a cha n ce to tu rn

their lives around.” Parents placed flowers

on t h e coffin to sym bolize the d yin g

dream s of inca rcerated chi ldren , an d th e

jazz fu n eral end ed on a celebratory note a severybody dan ced for ju st ice an d waved

“Tallu lah RIP” h a n dk erch iefs in t h e air.

The celebrat ion at th e end comm u nicated

h ope for childr en ’s fu tu re. Th e ja zz fu n era l

received m ajor media at ten tion b efore an d

after th e even t, an d a ll of th e coverage

reflected th e core m essa ges of th e jazz

fu n era l. Th e Mon da y followin g the even t,

th e Tim es Picayu n e editorialized in fa vor

of closing d own Tallu lah : “Violen ce with in

pr isons in no way contr ibu tes to the

rehabilitation of young offenders, which issu pposed to be th e pr imary goals of the

juven ile jus tice system …If th e st at e can ’t

figure ou t h ow to run the p r ison in a

man ner t ha t is hu man e t o inm at es and

th eir fam ilies , i t ought to sh u t Tallu lah

down.”

The Results

Th e work of th e advocates to ha s plan ted

th e seeds for the fu tu re reform of

Louisiana’s juvenile justice policy. With

th e help of J J PL, Sena tor Cravin s

su ccessfu lly au th ored a join t resolution

callin g for th e creat ion of a s tu dy

comm iss ion to condu ct an as sessm ent of

th e Lou isian a ju venile ju st ice system. The

ad vocates’ work with th e paren ts h as b u ilt

u p local and comm u n ity leaders to s tage

m a jor events , sp eak effectively to the

pu blic an d th e media, and to t ie messa geto stra tegic reform s. As a resu lt of th e

consis tent m essaging on th e need for more

reha bilitat ive program s in th e s tate a n d

th e call to close Tallu lah , the m edia ha s

shifted to editorialize in favor of closing

th e facility.




PRESS RELEASE FEBRUARY 22 , 2001

Contact: Lau ra J ones , 202-737 -7270, x254 or Cell: 202-425-4659

Or Sharon Rubins tein, 410-547-9200, x3024

Ma ry la nd Coa l i t ion La unches Ca m pa ign and

New Websi t e t o Close Chel t enha m Yout h Fa ci l i ty

Calls on Legislat ors t o Com m it to On e Year Pha se Ou t Pla nto Move You th to Treatm en t Program s a n d New Facilities

Annapolis, MD—A divers e coalition of pa ren ts, ch ildr en ’s a dvocates , juven ile ju st ice

organ izat ions , you th act ivis ts a n d cit izens today an nou nced a cam paign to shu t down

Ch elten h a m You th Deten tion Cen ter, “Marylan d’s Worst You th Prison .” Th e coalition’s n ew

websi te argu es th at th e 129-year old ins t i tut ion is beyond repa ir , an d th at th e youth sh ould

be m oved from Ch eltenh am into comm u n ity-bas ed reha bilitat ion program s a nd newer

facilities. The coa lition will h ost a variety of events cu lmina ting in a r a lly at th e Ch eltenh am

facility an d a lobby da y in An n ap olis on March 5 th .

Grievances listed on www.closecheltenham.org include: lack of ad equa te m enta l heal th

services an d t reatm ent p rogram s; gross ly ina dequa te edu cat ion s ervices ; dan gers d u e to

in adequ ate fire sa fety equipmen t ; s taff n eglect an d incompetence resu lt ing in a bu se a n d

rap e; fai lu re to reh ab ilitate you th , n early 90% of whom ar e a t th e facility for n on-violen t

offens es; an d th e disproport ion ate con fin em ent of m in ority you th .

Lin da Conway, a m other from Prince George’s Cou n ty wh ose son wa s bea ten du rin g his

fou r m onth s a t Cheltenh am for a n on-violent offens e, said: “Cheltenh am is n o place for

kids . My son needed h elp, bu t Chel ten ha m provided n o dru g or reh abi litat ive programs .

Ins tead, h e was b eaten an d n eglected. It ’s d an gerous , it doesn’t work a nd it sh ould be sh u t

down.”

Open ed in 1 872 as t h e Hou se of Reform ation for Colored Boys, Ch elten h am h as a lon g

h istory of sca n da l. One b oy was s tab bed on New Year’s Da y 2001 by a s taff m emb er, an d

an other boy was r epeat edly rap ed in differen t rooms of th e facility with in th e last year . A

recent fire sa fety repor t recomm ended tha t th e bu ilding be closed, an d J u veni le J u s t ice

Secretary Bish op Robin son said th at i t sh ould be dem olish ed.




Montgomery Cou n ty Delegate Sha ron Grosfeld sa id, “Cheltenh am sh ould h ave been closed

a long t ime a go. Cheltenh am is a disas ter , not on ly for th e facility bu t m ost esp ecial ly for

th e boys in th at faci lity. I am a m other, an d we don’t wan t to treat a n y ch ild th e way

Cheltenh am treat s th e children in its facility.”

Th e coalit ion h as called on Marylan d legislators to comm it to a gradu al one-year p h as e out

plan , which wou ld rea llocate resou rces from Ch eltenh am into comm u n ity-bas ed programs .

Cheltenh am you th would be placed in t reatm ent programs , or m oved into a n ew 144-bed

facility opening in Ba lt im ore in 20 02. In 198 6, Marylan d s u ccessfu lly closed t h e Mon trose

Training School in only eight m onth s. Wh ile the Depa rtm ent of J u venile J u st ice reports

80% rea rrest r ates for you th coming out of th eir locked inst i tu t ions , only 20% of th e you th

diverted from Montrose into com m u n ity program s were rearrested .

###




PRESS RELEASE MARCH 1 , 2001



More Tha n 2 0 0 Pa s t ors End orse th e Ca m pa ign to Close

Chel tenham

Call on Congregan ts , Fam ilies of Yout h in Che lte nh am t o

“Get On t he Bus” to Rally t he Facility, Lobby in Ann apolis on March 5 th

Baltimore, MD—Th e cit izens cam pa ign to close th e Cheltenh am you th facility picked u p

powerfu l al lies today with the en dorsemen t of more tha n 200 pas tors du r ing th e mon thly

m eeting of th e Inter den omin a tion al Min isterial Allia n ce of Baltim ore a n d Vicinity (IMA), a n

in ter - d enomina t ional , inter - fai th a nd inter - racial al lian ce. Th e m inis ters a nn oun ced th eir

efforts to tu rn out con gregan ts a n d fam ilies of you th in Ch elten h am to “Get on th e Bus ” to

ral ly at t h e facility an d lobby in An n ap olis on Mar ch 5 th . J u venile ju st ice sectary Bish op

Robison s poke at th e press conference, and su ppor ted the closure of Cheltenh am .

Am ong others, th e ministers cited th eir prima ry grievan ces as th e disp roport iona te

con fin em en t of yout h of color in Ch elten h am , an d th e facility’s rem ote location from

Balt im ore fam ilies , whose ch ildren m ak e u p a bou t one h alf of Cheltenh am ’s popu lation.

Alth ou gh African Am erican m ales m ak e u p on ly 17% of Marylan d’s youth popu lation a n d

39% of you th a r res ts , they ma ke u p 81 % of the you th con fin ed Cheltenh am . Cheltenh am

was open ed in 18 72 as th e Hous e of Reform ation for Colored Boys. Ch elten h am is over 50

miles from Baltimore. Its inaccessibility to families and clergy is a serious barrier to the

type of h ealin g an d reconciliat ion th at th e ministers cons ider key to th e yout h s’

rehabil i tat ion.

“Cheltenh am is one of th e last symb ols of Maryland ’s segregationist J im Crow policies, a n d

is a pa in fu l reminder of continu in g in equ ality for m in ority children in th e juvenile jus t ice

system,” said Reverend Gregory Perkins, President of the IMA. “Enough is enough. We need

to sh u t down th e facility, an d b r ing ou r ch ildren hom e to program s th at work.”




Th e coalit ion l is ts i ts pr im ary concern s a s: abu se an d n eglect of th e you th confin ed in th e

facility; lack of ad equ ate m ent al hea lth services an d trea tm en t program s; grossly

in adequ ate edu cat ion services ; dan gers du e to inad equa te fire sa fety equ ipm ent ; s ta ff

n eglect an d incomp etence; an d fai lu re to reha bilitate youth , nea rly 90 % of whom a re at th e

facility for non-violent offenses.

Th e coalit ion h as called on Marylan d legislators to comm it to a gradu al one-year p h as e out

plan , which wou ld rea llocate resou rces from Ch eltenh am into comm u n ity-bas ed programs .

Cheltenh am you th would be placed in t reatm ent programs , or m oved into a n ew 144-bed

facility open in g in Ba lt im ore in 20 02. A sm all n u m ber would rem ain a t one rem aining

cottage, wh ile th e rest wou ld b e replaced with a m odern , 24-bed facility.

###

For more inform ation abou t th e camp aign to close Chel tenh am , vis i t www.closechel tenham.org, or contact :

Laura Jone s, 202-737-7270, 254 or cel l : 202-425-4659; or Sharon Rubinstein, 410-547-9200, x3024.




PRESS RELEASE MARCH 5 , 2001



Cl ergy , S t uden t s , Pa ren t s a nd Ci t i z ens Lobby Leg i s l a t o r s t o C lose Che lt enha m

Annapolis, MD—Th e cit izens’ cam pa ign t o close th e Ch elten h am you th facility h eld a h igh

energy an d s pir ited lobby da y today du r ing th e House Bu dget Hear ing on the Depa r tmen t of

J u veni le J u s t ice’s Bud get . Bear ing pu ppets , s igns a n d oth er creat ive props , th e grou p of

minis ters , s tu dents , pa rents , an d con cerned cit izens called on Marylan d legis lators to

comm it to a one-year ph ase ou t program to close Cheltenh am .

Th e coalit ion a sk ed th e bu dget comm ittee to sh ift fu n ding out of th e Cheltenh am facility,

an d ins tead inves t in commu n ity and fam ily based reh abi litat ive an d t reatm ent p rogram s.

Th e coalit ion a lso called on th e Govern or an d Lt. Govern or to assu re th at a ll fu n ds sa ved

from th e closure of Cheltenh am be earm arked in th e Depar tm ent of J u veni le J u s t ice

bu dget to fu n d r igorous an d effective al tern atives to deten tion.

“Marylan d legislators h ave an h istoric opportu n ity to close down th e da n gerou s

Cheltenh am facility, an d implemen t sou n d policies th at h elp ou r kids tu rn th eir lives

ar ou n d, an d m ore effectively bu ild an d protect ou r comm u n it ies ,” sa id J im McCom b,

President of th e Marylan d J u ven ile J u st ice Coalit ion.

Th e coalit ion’s p h as e out plan is m odeled a fter th e 198 6 closu re of th e Montros e Train in g

School, which was sh u t down in on ly 8 m onth s . Wh ile the Depa r tmen t of J u veni le J u s t ice

reports 80% rea rrest rat es for you th coming out of th eir locked ins t i tut ions, on ly 20% of th e

you th diver ted from Montrose into commu n ity program s were rear res ted. Cheltenh am

you th cou ld be placed in tr eatm en t program s, or moved in to a new 144 -bed facility open in g

in Balt im ore in 20 02 . Th e coalit ion is recom m en ding tha t one 2 4-bed facility rema in open

for Prin ce Georges’ Coun ty and sou th ern Marylan d you th .

Reveren d Gregory Perkin s, pres iden t of the In terden omina tiona l Min isterial Allian ce, sa id,

“Cheltenh am is a sa d t est imon y to our society’s con tin u in g racial disp ari t ies . Like a ll

systems of injust ice, Cheltenham should be closed.”




Alth ou gh African Am erican m ales m ak e u p on ly 17% of Marylan d’s youth popu lation a n d

39% of you th a r res ts , they ma ke u p 81 % of the you th con fin ed Cheltenh am . Cheltenh am

was op ened in 18 72 as th e Hous e of Reform ation for Colored Boys, a n d is on e of th e sta te’s

rem aining sym bols of the “J im Crow” segregationist era . Ch elten h am is over 50 m iles from

Balt im ore where m ost of th e you th come from .

Th e coalit ion l is ts i ts pr im ary concern s a s: abu se an d n eglect of th e you th confin ed in th e

facility; th e dispa rate confin emen t of m in ority yout h ; lack of ad equ ate m ent al hea lth

services an d t reatm ent p rogram s; gross ly ina dequa te edu cat ion s ervices ; dan gers d u e to

in ad equ ate f ire sa fety equ ipm en t; s taff n eglect an d incomp etence; an d fai lu re to reha bilitate

youth, nearly 90% of whom are at the facility for non-violent offenses.

###

For more inform ation abou t th e camp aign to close Chel tenh am , vis i t www.closechel tenham.org, or contact :

Laura Jones , 20 2-737 -72 70 , 254 or cell: 20 2-425 -46 59 ; or Sharon Rubins t e in , 410-547-9200, x3024 .




Fa m il ies an d Friend s of Louis ia na ’s Inca rcera ted Youth

822 Camp Street

New Orlean s , Louis ian a 7 01 30

(504) 522-5437

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 2 8 , 20 01

Contact: Gin a Woma ck, (50 4) 522 -543 7

Avis Brock, (50 4) 527 -00 63

Pare nt s Hold Jazz Fune ral to Mourn the

Departe d Dre am s of Lou isian a’s Inc arc erate d Youth

TALLULAH RIP! Ral ly for t he Closu re of Ta l lula h Youth Fa ci l i ty , Ca l l for Al ter na t ives

To Inca rcera t ion

Fam ilies of Louisian a’s In carcera ted Ch ildren is a n ad vocacy an d su pp ort grou p of pa ren ts

an d concern ed ci t izens callin g for less in carcera t ion of Lou isian a’s you th , th e closu re of th e

Tallu lah facility, an d m ore in vestm ent in r eha bilitat ion a n d less in carcera t ion.

###




Close Tallulah Now!

A Peo ple ’s Cam paign to Clos e Louis iana’s Wors t Yout h Prison

K id s l iv es a re a t s t a k e . Tallulah is a d an gerous an d violen t facility w here child renare m ore lik ely to be ne glected , bea ten or rape d than receive the ed ucation a nd

treatment they need. Tallulah’s children are routinely brought to the hospital for

broken jaw s, s ma s hed teeth, and m ajor cuts a nd bruises .

$25 Mi l l ion down the dra in . Hard-earned taxpayers’ money is wasted on a

facility that profits businessmen, and does not rehabilitate kids or protect our

com m un ities . Thes e k ids w ould be better treated in com m unity an d fam ily bas ed

program s that h ave been proven to reha bilitate y outh.

B e t t e r o p t i o ns e x i s t . 60% of the youth detained in Tallulah are non-violent

offenders . Hous ing them in a n ill-equ ipped dan gerous facility lik e Tallulah is crim ina l.

Community-based treatment programs for non-violent youth can provide higher

quality educational services, reduce recidivism rates and cut costs. Kids need

treatm ent a nd training—not bruis es an d abu s e—to help them turn their lives around .

Ta l l u l a h ha s ne v e r w o rk e d , a nd i t ne v e r w i l l . Built in 1995 as one of the

larges t youth pris ons in the coun try , Tallulah h as now earne d th e d is tinction as

one of our na tion’s w ors t facilities . Things w ere s o bad that th e fed eral governm ents tepped in to su e the s tate. For the las t tw o yea rs , Tallulah has been un der federal

w atch b ut lit tle ha s im proved for the k ids that continue to get beaten a nd abu s ed.

We’ve clos ed y out h jails before, an d we s ho uld do it again wit h Tallulah. In

200 0, J ena was s afely closed in only 6 weeks. Tallu lah sh ould be closed in th e

n ext 12 m onth s by movin g the kids into r igorou sly m onitored com mu n ity an d

fa m ily ba sed pr ogra m s , or oth er fa cilities. We can n ot risk a n oth er kids ’ s afety to

delay—we need a plan to close Tallu lah n ow, an d m ove our kids into program s

tha t work.

Famil ies and Friends of Louis iana’s Incarcerated Chi ldren is an ad vocacy

and support group calling for less incarceration of Louisiana’s youth, and more

inve s tme nt in com m un ity -ba s ed treatm ent a nd reha bilitation program s .




Key Date s in J uvenile J usticeCalen dar of Even ts

Ann ual Even ts th at You Can Use To Publiciz eJuve nile J ust ice Iss ues , Every Year

September

Labor Day

• “J obs Not J ai ls” for Our Youth . Studen t Emp loymen t Programs versus Zero Toleran ce

Policies.

Back to Schoo l

• “Schools n ot Ja ils” or “Books Not Bars” cam pa ign again s t increas ed in ves tmen t in jai ls

while decreased spen ding on edu cat ion

• Tr ea tmen t an d Edu ca t ion , no t Inca r ce ra t ion campa ign t o s how t ha t educa t ion and

trea tm ent p rogram s m ore effective an d less costly th an in carcera t ion

• School shoot ing s t a t is t ics (e .g. CJCJ School Hou se Hype s tud y)

October

Colum bus Day

• High light dispa rate conf in emen t of Firs t Nat ion s / Nat ive American you th

Halloween

• Ghost , goblin s an d gou les aren’t as scary as a l ife withou t second ch an ces for kids in

adult jails

November

Ann ual Release of DOJ National J uve nile Crime Data

Thanksgiving

• Pub licize non -violent kids who can ’t be with th eir fam ilies becau se they are in carcerated.

• Tha nkfu l op-ed from a k id who went th rou gh the ju venile sys tem ta lk ing about th e los t

oppor tun it ies for you th t r ied a s a du lts .

December

Christmas

• Pub licize non -violent kids who can ’t be with th eir fam ilies becau se they are in adu lt

jails.




January

State Poli t ical Even ts

• Legis la t ive C a le n d a r

Follow bil ls , budget s, e tc

• S ta t e of t h e S ta t e Ad d r es s• Swear ing in o f New Gover nors

Martin Lut he r King Day

• Racia l Dispar i ties in the J u venile Ju s t ice Sys tem

February

Pres iden t’s Day

• Poin t out pres ident ia l programs / polic ies n egat ive ly impa ct ing k ids in the a du lt or

ju venile system s (e.g. enforcemen t of ba rr ing stu den t loan s to youth with dru g felony

convictions).

Black Histo ry Month• Racia l Dispar i ties in the J u venile Ju s t ice Sys tem

• Su ccess s tor ies (J u venile Sys tem vs . Adu lt Sys tem)

March

Int ernatio nal Wom en ’s Day

• Gir ls in th e ju venile ju s t ice sys tem

AprilColum bine Ann iversary

• Reminder tha t youth v io lence an d cr ime are on th e decline , and sch ools a re among the

sa fest p lace to be for our you th .Easter

• Have a mini s t er sermonize on juvenile ju s t ice is su es

May

Moth ers Day

• Publ ic ize non-vio lent you th who can’t be with the ir m other s b ecau se they are

incarcerated

• Publ ic ize nu mber of mother s who can ’t be with th e ir k ids becau se the youth are in

deten tion cen ters of ad u lt jai ls .

Graduation Time

• Kids in the a du lt sys tem are “gradu at ing” to a life without s econd cha nces




June

Beginning of Summe r

• Even t s t ied t o p r even t ion p rogr ams

Studies s how that cr ime goes up in the summ er when kids don’t have m eaningful

act ivi t iesFather’s Day

• Pub licize non-violent you th who can’t be with th eir fath ers becaus e they are

incarcerated

July

Independence Day

• As American s fire u p th eir gr ills to celebrate our n at ion’s in depend ence, 2,000 kids

locked in deten tion centers or adu lt jai ls h ave noth in g to celebra te.

Other Possible Hooks

Th ese ar e event s you cou ld do a n ytim e of th e year , depend in g on you r sta te’s calend ar, you r

goals , an d your cap acity to do these even ts .

Ann ual Release of Kids Count data (e.g. pu ll out jj portion an d rele ase se parate ly)

High Notoriety State and National Crimes

• e .g. , youth who k illed , r esu lt ing in a b ad s t a te law

Ann ive rsary o f Passage of Major Laws

• e.g. , ann iversary of California Prop. 21; pass age of SB 179 in Ohio one year later

Hundred year anniversary of your state’s juvenile court




REFERENCES

1 S n yd er, H. , & S ic km u n d , M. (1 9 9 9 ). Juvenile offenders and victims: 1999 national report.

Page 89. Was h in gton , DC: Office of J u venile J u st ice an d Delin qu en cy Preven tion.

2 Bish op, D. , et al ., “The Tran sfer of J u veni les to Cr imina l Cou r t : Does It Make aDifferen ce,” CRIME & DELINQUENCY, Vol. 42 , No. 2, April 19 96 17 1-1 91 ; Faga n , J .,

“Th e Comp ara tive Advan tage of J u venile Versu s Crimina l Cour t Sa n ctions on

Recidivism Am on g Adolescen t Felon y Offen der s,” Fina l Report. Gra n t 87 -IJ CX40 44 to

th e Nationa l In st i tu te of J u st ice.

3 U.S. Depar tmen t o f Hea lt h an d Huma n Se r vices . (2001). Youth Violence: A Rep ort to th e

Su rgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Depar tm ent of Health a n d Hu m an Services,

Centers for Disea se Con trol and Preven tion, Nation al Center for Injury Preven tion a n d

Control; Su bs tan ce Abu se a n d Menta l Health Services Adm in istra t ion, Cent er for

Men tal Health S ervices; an d Nationa l In st i tu tes of Health, Nation al In st i tu te of Men tal

Heal th.

4 Males , M. & MacAlla ir, D . (2000). The Color of J us tice . Was h ington , DC: Bu ildin g Blocks

for You th .

5 Poe-Yama ga t a , E ., & J ones , M. (2000). And Ju s tice For S ome : Differential Treatment of

Minority Youth in the Ju s tice Sy s tem . Was h ington , DC: Bu ildin g Blocks for You th .

6 J u s zk iewicz, J . (2 0 00 ). Youth Crim e/ Adu lt Time: Is Jus tice Served? Was h in gton , DC:

Bu ildin g Blocks for You th .

7 The focu s groups were condu cted from September, 1998, to November, 1998.

8 The poll was of 2 ,003 adu lt s 18 or o lder living in the United Sta tes . It ha d a ma rgin of

sam plin g er ror of +/ - 2.2%, an d was cond u cted from J an u ary 30 to Februa ry 12, 1999 .

9 Papers r epor ting th is r esearch are pu blish ed together as “Reframing Youth I s sues ,”

Working Papers of the FrameWorks Inst i tute and the Center for Communications andComm u n ity, UCLA. Th e resea rch was an alyzed in a pa per, “Refram in g Yout h Iss u es for

Pu blic Considerat ion a n d Su pport: A Fram eWorks Messa ge Memo” by Su sa n Nall Bales,

which was the s ource for comm ents on th e Fram eWorks research in this advocacy

guide.

10 The qu es t ion was sp lit – ha lf of respond ents were asked to cons ider a Black you th a n d

h alf were ask ed to consider a White you th .

11 In a second qu es t ion, more tha n h al f of responden ts s t rongly agreed tha t wealthier

ju veniles receive better t r eatm ent th an poor ju veniles.



Youth Law Center

10 10 Vermon t Avenue, N.W., Suite 31 0

Washington DC 20 00 5-49 02

soler public opinion on youth, crime, and race a guide for advocates

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